Business of the House

Eleanor Laing Excerpts

Thursday 25th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The Government have introduced an unprecedented package of support for businesses throughout the pandemic and are working closely with local authorities to ensure that funding can get to the right places as quickly as is practicable. The additional restrictions grant continues to enable local authorities to put in place discretionary business support. Local authorities are free to provide support that suits their local area, including support for those businesses that are not required to close but whose trade has been severely affected by restrictions, and those businesses that fall outside the business rates system, such as market traders. But it is a discretionary system and if we believe in local accountability and local decision making, sometimes we have to accept that the local decisions will not be the decisions that we ourselves would have made.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

I am sure that the Lord President of the Council will welcome the launch of the Dame Vera Lynn appeal.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP) [V]]

I associate myself with the comments of the Leader of the House and the shadow Leader of the House, the right hon. Member for Walsall South (Valerie Vaz), about the urgent need to tackle the rise in hate crime. Equally, I wish all Members of the House a happy Easter and express my thanks to the staff of the House, who have helped all Members in such a difficult period over the last year.

Not only does today represent day 38 of 42 days of strike action by British Gas engineers over the shameful fire and rehire threat, but it—or more accurately, noon just passed—was the deadline given to those engineers to sign up to new, reduced terms and conditions or to face the sack. Unless British Gas takes that off the table at the eleventh hour, those who refuse to be bullied into signing the new contracts will be sacked on 1 April. My hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire North (Gavin Newlands) questioned Ministers on this issue time and again, including bringing legislation to outlaw the practice, which has led the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to instruct ACAS to carry out a review. As I understand it, that reported to Government over a week ago, but it has not yet been brought forward. Can the Leader of the House please ask his colleagues in BEIS to come to the House as a matter of urgency to make a statement on this heinous practice, which has already affected so many across the country?

Governments have a long and bitter history of interactions with mining communities. I was certainly very welcoming of the Scottish Government’s commitment to issuing pardons for unjust convictions that ruined the lives of so many miners in the ’80s. I still hope that we could see action from this Government to play their part and launch a full inquiry into the policing of miners’ strikes in the ’80s. May we have a debate in Government time to look at that issue, but also at how we can use those mines today to create new jobs and opportunities, for example through geothermal energy?

Finally, may I ask the Leader of the House to join me in expressing his thanks to my constituent Jim Ralston, who this week has announced his retirement as captain of the Loanhead Boys’ Brigade company? Jim has been its captain for 12 years and we wish him well in his future endeavours. Will he also wish every success to the former hon. Member for Airdrie and Shotts and now Steward and Bailiff of Her Majesty’s Manor of Northstead, Neil Gray, in his future endeavours, as well as to our candidate in the upcoming by-election, Anum Qaisar?

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[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Government recognise the strain that has been put on children and their families over the past year. Ensuring that children can play and socialise safely again is a great priority. They also have fun; am I allowed to use the word “fun”, Madam Deputy Speaker? Children ought to enjoy themselves. The Scouts and Brownies ensure that children enjoy themselves. They look at that great figure Bear Grylls and think, “Perhaps I can eat a slug too; what will my parents have to say?” [Interruption.] There may also be vegetarian scouts who do not want to eat slugs; I accept the heckle from the Opposition Bench.

That is very important, as is the mental health of children, which the Government are doing a great deal to support, with an extra £79 million to boost mental health support for children and young people. Some 22,500 more children and young people will have access to such services next year, and an additional 345,000 by 2024. The last year has been difficult. Let us hope that the Scouts and Guides, wonderful features of our civic life that they are, will open up soon and that children will be able to enjoy themselves and, dare I say it, do those things that their parents probably do not always approve of until they find out about them later.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

So true.

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab) [V]]

In my constituency, there are a number of large developments that are at complete odds with many residents’ wishes—a pontoon at Market Dock, the destruction of fields and a popular playpark at Holborn Riverside, and the construction of an unnecessary flyover at Tilesheds. The planning system is completely failing them. Residents were not involved in the decisions at the outset, and now they are expressing concerns that they are being ignored, railroaded and, in some cases, treated with contempt. Can we have an urgent debate on reforming planning so that local people have a real say in what happens in their community?

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[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I absolutely congratulate my hon. Friend and his constituent Emma Lou on winning the mascot design competition for the 2022 Commonwealth games, which will take place in Birmingham. I am delighted to hear that they are going to be the best ever—we take that as a firm promise from my hon. Friend—and to hear about Perry the bull, inspired by the city’s famous Bullring.

I remember as a child a story about Ferdinand the bull, who did not like to fight but liked to sit there smelling the flowers, until he got stung by a bee and therefore charged around like billy-oh. The bullfighting catchers were around that day and they took him off, and then he sat in the bullring sniffing the flowers. It was a bit of a disappointment for the audience. I hope Perry is a more active bull, with his fantastic horns and his colourful hexagons. It is very encouraging that the mascot has been chosen—and would I pose for a photo with Perry? I would be honoured, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I hope you will join me.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

I am sure I would be delighted, Lord President.

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

May I add my concerns to those of other hon. Members about the increasingly common tactic of fire and rehire across businesses? I welcomed the Leader of the House’s comments earlier, and I reflect on the fact that the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully), talked about it being “bully boy tactics”, and he is absolutely right. BEIS has had that ACAS report since 17 February. There will be a couple of extra weeks now after the Easter recess. I urge the Leader of the House to bring forward emergency legislation, which by the sound of things would have support, so that we can outlaw this disgraceful tactic of fire and rehire.