Points of Order

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Monday 24th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will be aware that I requested an urgent question following the discovery at my advice surgery last Friday that the Home Office hotline for MPs had been due to shut that day at 5 pm and not to reopen until after the general election. I later discovered that that was the practice for a number of Government hotlines, which are mechanisms that enable MPs—as you know, we are Members of Parliament until next Tuesday—to get justice for their constituents.

Following that request, my office got a telephone call from the Cabinet Office saying, “Please withdraw it. We don’t really want to answer this.” I did not accede to that request, and what seemed to happen thereafter is that a whole load of hotlines started reopening. I quite understand why you did not grant my request for an urgent question, Mr Speaker, because it seems that just asking you had a result. As a champion of the Back Bencher, will you use your best efforts to make sure that the original plan to cut off this service to Members of Parliament does not occur until after this Parliament is dissolved?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the right hon. Lady. The Leader of the House is in his place and, notwithstanding the right hon. Lady’s excoriating remarks about the Government, it may be his wish to clarify the matter as he thinks fit. I can say only that I will always do my best for Back-Bench Members.

As the right hon. Lady has announced her intention to leave the House, perhaps I can wish her great good fortune, health and happiness in all she goes on to do. I am very conscious that she and I entered the House together 20 years ago, and we have come to know each other well over the past two decades. I say with feeling, best wishes and good luck.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Tuesday 21st March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are out of time, but I want to get in two more questions.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State will be aware that many migrants in the UK are not registered with GPs, yet now when they come to Britain they have to pay an NHS fine. What is he doing, with the Home Office, to ensure that migrants are registered with a GP and are aware of community health facilities?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Tuesday 7th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. If the right hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) can be as brief as she is illustrious, the House will be blessed.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

Ministers have praised the Corston report on women in the criminal justice system and yet are currently planning, I hear, to open specialist units for women as adjuncts to men’s prisons, going in the opposite direction to the Corston report. Can they reassure me that I am wrong?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Tuesday 17th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Philip Hammond)]

The Government do not comment on currency movements and we do not target an exchange rate, but I will tell the House that the pound has spiked in the last few minutes while the Prime Minister has been speaking. The vote to leave the EU has obviously caused some uncertainty in the movements of financial markets. More generally, the fundamentals of our economy over the last couple of years have been strong.

[Mr Speaker]

I think what the Chancellor means is that he does not comment on currency movements unless he does.

[Fiona Mactaggart]

But is it not the case that No. 10’s office briefed that the pound would fall as a result of the Prime Minister’s remarks today? Did it do that in a cynical attempt to get the soundbite that the Chancellor has just sought to achieve?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Monday 19th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Finally, whether she is a mistress of brevity or not, I call Fiona Mactaggart.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

Headteachers in Slough schools were very grateful to the Minister for School Standards when he met them to discuss teacher shortages. Unfortunately—I am sorry to bring this to the Chamber—I have reminded him twice since then that they have not received the letter that he promised them at that meeting. Can I expect it to be sent before Christmas?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Tuesday 1st November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am extremely grateful to the Secretary of State. I call Fiona Mactaggart.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

2. How many deaths have occurred in (a) custody suites operated by G4S and (b) other custody suites in the last three years.

[Fiona Mactaggart]

Very vulnerable people are held in custody suites, and many have committed suicide. That translates into the presence of such people in prisons, where, as the Secretary of State has just acknowledged, there have been more deaths in custody than there have been for many years. More women are killing themselves than at any time since the Corston report. When we know what has gone wrong from the reports of coroners’ courts or the Corston report, which have given us real advice on what ought to happen, why is it not happening? Has the Minister read those coroners’ reports?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We really do need to make progress. This is very slow.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Tuesday 12th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I thought I had detected emissions of steam from Slough. That is a fate better avoided, I think. I call Fiona Mactaggart.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The reason I was steamy is that I spoke this morning to my constituent whose husband, Nawaz Khan, has been detained in South Sudan since 18 June without charge. It seems to me that in view of the situation and the turmoil there, it is urgent that the British authorities demand his release or charge instantly. This man is a diabetic, and he is not being properly looked after. It is time we defended our citizen.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Monday 4th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Just.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

Is the Minister of State surprised to learn that when I shared his latest response to my correspondence about teacher shortages in Slough with our local headteachers, they found it cynical and said that it failed to address the real recruitment and retention problems that they face? Will he meet me and those headteachers to discuss a practical arrangement to deal with the teacher shortages in our town?

Points of Order

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Tuesday 5th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I can answer very simply. If the programme motion is passed, there is protected time of up to six hours for debate on the Report stage of the Housing and Planning Bill. That is clearly what the Government intended in putting the motion on the Order Paper—six hours of protected time. If the motion is not passed, the answer to the hon. Gentleman, and for the benefit of the House, is that debate on the Bill could not continue beyond 10 o’clock. However, I must advise the House that in debating the matters appertaining to the Bill up until 10 o’clock, we would not do so in the order set down for consideration in the Government’s motion; we would have to proceed in a different way that would require ingenious and speedy work of an administrative kind by those within the usual channels responsible for these matters. I am glad that one such senior denizen who would have that responsibility is nodding in assent to my proposition, whether with enthusiasm or an air of resignation I will leave it for the House to judge. If the motion is passed, we proceed as the Government had intended; if the motion is not passed, we cannot proceed beyond 10 o’clock and would have to proceed in a different way.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Would it not be possible for Members on both sides of the House to agree voluntarily to continue with the order of debate in the proposed programme motion, even if it was all to be stopped at 10 o’clock?

[Mr Speaker]

It is a hypothetical question, but if the right hon. Lady is asking me whether it would be open to the Government to table a different proposed order of consideration at this stage, I am advised that it would be possible. I cannot recall a precedent for it, but if the right hon. Lady is asking me whether it is possible, the answer is that, like most things, if the House were to will it, it could happen. I have to say, however, that, although the resources of civilisation are not yet exhausted, no representative of the Government Whips Office has approached me on this matter. Given that we have been on statements for some time, one would rather have thought that if they did will that, they would have approached me. They have not, so I assume that they do not, if the House follows my drift.

We will have to leave it there for now, but I have explained the position and it is up to Members to do as they wish. As things stand, the House is due to sit—unusually, it has to be said, and pretty exceptionally—for several hours in order to progress the Government’s business. I am the servant of the House and I will do whatever the House decrees.

If there are no further points of order—for now, at any rate—we come to the ten-minute rule motion, for which the hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane) has been waiting exceptionally patiently.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Tuesday 17th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Members must calm down. The right hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) is a distinguished ornament of this House, a celebrated figure, a former Minister. Decorum, I remind her.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

The Minister did not answer the question.

[Mr Speaker]

When the right hon. Lady was a Minister, she had to answer questions. She is not burdened with that responsibility at present.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

The right hon. Lady’s moment has arrived. I call Fiona Mactaggart.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

19. How many women who have been victims of domestic violence applied for legal aid in proceedings relating to their children in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Tuesday 10th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I fear that, in so far as I could hear, the terms of the question did not engage with the question on the Order Paper. Therefore—forgive me—I do not think that it would be proper to ask for an answer.

[Fiona Mactaggart]

In view of the fact that the police are being ineffective in prosecuting fraud, and given that reports to Action Fraud have gone up by 10%, what is the Attorney-General doing to ensure that the Serious Fraud Office has sufficient resources to deal with the most complex frauds? How much money has it got from fraudsters to enable it to fund future work?

Points of Order

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Tuesday 3rd February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am extremely grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order and for kindly giving me advance notice of it. She makes a good point on which I confess I had not previously reflected. The phrase used in the question, and I appreciate what she said about the hon. Member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell), is not disorderly, but I will ask the Table Office to consider whether its practice should be changed for precisely the good reason she has just given to the House. I hope that that is helpful.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Earlier in this question session, the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) heard me scoff as he spoke. I scoffed when he referred to the Daily Mail as the source of his research, not because I do not care about the issue of rape, which is an issue I raised on the BBC in a “Newsnight” programme when the hon. Gentleman was eight years old.

[Mr Speaker]

I think that the point of order raised by the hon. Lady stands on its own. She has made her point with force and alacrity and the reason for her scoff is well understood.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Thursday 27th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Very briefly—Fiona Mactaggart.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

I am very grateful for the measures in the Modern Slavery Bill. Will the Minister meet companies to make sure that they understand their responsibilities, because the Bill could end this exploitation of workers in UK supply chains?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Wednesday 30th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I will allow some injury time, because there has been so much noise.

Not on this occasion from her seat, but on her feet, I call Fiona Mactaggart to speak.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Has the Prime Minister seen the survey showing that two thirds of local councils are either dimming or cutting their streetlights at night? Does he think that women are feeling safe in their local communities at night under his Government?

Deaths in Custody (Legal Aid)

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Tuesday 4th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

I am very glad my right hon. Friend has brought before the House this issue of people who die in custody. I have informed the Minister of the case of my constituent Philmore Mills. His case is very unusual. He was in hospital in a lung ward, and on 11 December 2011 the staff were made anxious by his behaviour. They called the police and the police restrained him, and he died under police restraint. The inquest into that death is due on 1 April—two and a half years later—yet his family still do not know if they are going to have legal aid for representation at that inquest and they are thus made more anxious still. Their dad was in hospital with a breathing problem, yet he died at the hands of the police. They should be legally represented without having to pay.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. May I remind Members that they should be very careful about reference to live cases because of the sub judice rule?

Business of the House

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Thursday 12th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

When we discuss the Care Bill on Monday, we will be debating amendment 118, which gives the Secretary of State for Health a kind of Henry VIII power to direct mergers and changes in hospital provision. However, in cases where hospitals actually want to merge, the situation is overcomplicated by the role of the Competition Commission. Will the Leader of the House discuss with the Secretary of State for Health the tabling of an urgent amendment to that Bill to ensure that instead of our money being spent on expensive competition lawyers, it is spent on health provision?

[Mr Speaker]

I think the hon. Lady seeks a statement, too, or a debate in the House next week. [Interruption.] Indeed.

Petitions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Tuesday 15th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

I rise to present a petition on behalf of 68 of my constituents and people living near Slough.

I thank the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for writing to me about the issue before I presented the petition and want to tell the House how important my constituents, and largely those of Zimbabwean origin, believe the petition to be.

The petition states:

The Petition of the supporters of Zimbabweans who love peace, resident in the UK,

Declares that the Petitioners believe that elections held in Zimbabwe this summer were not free, peaceful and fair; further that the Mugabe regime has a long history of manipulating the entire process including pre-election, during voting and post-election and in 2008 Mugabe refused to accept the results in which his party was heavily defeated, he intimidated people, battered and killed MDC supporters before claiming victory; further that the 2013 elections have again been marked with massive irregularities and incomplete participation and there are serious questions about the credibility of the elections due to the number of irregularities both in the run-up to the ballot and on polling day.

The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons makes the world aware that the 2013 Zimbabwean election results are not credible and are not an expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people; and further requests that the House do all in its power to prevent the country plunging into another era of poverty and human suffering as it did in 2008, we ask for help to see human rights restored and support in the fight for a new Zimbabwe.

And the Petitioners remain, etc.

[P001223]

[Mr Speaker]

It is heartening to note that the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) has toddled into the Chamber in time by a few moments. We will enable him now to catch his breath, as I call Dr Thérèse Coffey to present her petition.

Elections in Zimbabwe

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Tuesday 15th October 2013 Commons Chamber

Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)

- Hansard -

I rise to present a petition on behalf of 68 of my constituents and people living near Slough.

I thank the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for writing to me about the issue before I presented the petition and want to tell the House how important my constituents, and largely those of Zimbabwean origin, believe the petition to be.

The petition states:

The Petition of the supporters of Zimbabweans who love peace, resident in the UK,

Declares that the Petitioners believe that elections held in Zimbabwe this summer were not free, peaceful and fair; further that the Mugabe regime has a long history of manipulating the entire process including pre-election, during voting and post-election and in 2008 Mugabe refused to accept the results in which his party was heavily defeated, he intimidated people, battered and killed MDC supporters before claiming victory; further that the 2013 elections have again been marked with massive irregularities and incomplete participation and there are serious questions about the credibility of the elections due to the number of irregularities both in the run-up to the ballot and on polling day.

The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons makes the world aware that the 2013 Zimbabwean election results are not credible and are not an expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people; and further requests that the House do all in its power to prevent the country plunging into another era of poverty and human suffering as it did in 2008, we ask for help to see human rights restored and support in the fight for a new Zimbabwe.

And the Petitioners remain, etc.

[P001223]

Mr Speaker

- Hansard - - Excerpts

It is heartening to note that the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) has toddled into the Chamber in time by a few moments. We will enable him now to catch his breath, as I call Dr Thérèse Coffey to present her petition.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Monday 20th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart]

I have been driven to ask this as an oral question by my being refused a reply to a number of written questions on the grounds that it would cost too much money. I have been able to discover that there are 678,000 housing benefit claimants who are also receiving ESA, so there are at least two thirds of a million disabled people in receipt of housing benefit. In Slough landlords—

[Mr Speaker]

May we have a question? We must move on.

[Fiona Mactaggart]

What is the Minister going to do to protect disabled people in private housing when landlords refuse to accept people on housing benefit, which is common in my constituency?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Thursday 6th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I would not want the hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) to feel socially excluded, so we will hear from her.

The hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission was asked—

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

9. What steps the Electoral Commission is taking to prepare for the introduction of individual electoral registration.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Monday 2nd July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman says that she is a dame, but even dames must play by the rules, and that is not disputed.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

14. What his most recent estimate is of the number of homes to be built in the south-east in the next five years and of the proportion of such homes that will be let at affordable rents.

[Fiona Mactaggart]

I am rather confused by that answer, because the Minister has just said that he does not forecast numbers of new homes but in an earlier answer he forecast 170,000 new homes. I do not know when a forecast is not a forecast. May I tell him what the housing situation is like on the ground, because his responses so far have not revealed it properly? In Slough, 43 affordable new homes have been started, down from 103. I have had more inquiries about housing this year than in any year since I was elected in 1997. We have nearly 300 people whose homes have been repossessed. [Interruption.] If I could come to the question—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I think that the hon. Lady wants to know what the Minister is going to do about the situation.

[Fiona Mactaggart]

May I specifically ask the Minister what he can offer to people in a situation where there are more people on the housing waiting list in Slough than there are affordable homes?

[Fiona Mactaggart]

That is out of order.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is no breach of order. [Interruption.] Order. I must say to the hon. Lady that the Minister is not out of order. I do not think she should take offence, as the Minister did not mean to be offensive in any way; he was being light-hearted and jocular, as we all seek to be.

Abu Qatada

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Thursday 19th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Speaking from personal experience, repeat questions are not an entirely novel phenomenon in the House of Commons.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

I am beginning to think that the Home Secretary has form here. She has previously accused the European Court of Human Rights of rejecting a deportation because someone had a cat, and she is giving assurances today despite the cases of Otto and Praha, which make it quite clear that she has wrongly interpreted the deadline. My suspicion is that she is playing with this very serious case in order to whip up hostility to the European Court of Human Rights, which is an important protector of human rights in Britain.

Points of Order

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Thursday 19th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I wonder whether it is in order for Ministers to abuse Opposition Back Benchers on the basis of their age or gender—[Laughter.] Yesterday, we heard the Prime Minister do that to the 79-year-old hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr Skinner). That problem was repeated today—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I say to Mr Shelbrooke, who is now engaging busily in a conversation with the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones): calm yourself. The hon. Lady is raising a point of order about manners, to which I intend to listen and with which I will deal, and it hardly helps if people are sniggering and smirking at the point she is making.

[Fiona Mactaggart]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

The Minister of State, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, did the same thing today when he described the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) as “hysterical”. You used the word “manners”, Mr Speaker. Is there anything you can do to promote better manners in this Chamber, so that Members do not face abuse from Ministers?

[Mr Speaker]

What I would say to the hon. Lady is that “Erskine May” is clear that good temper and moderation in the use of language are the hallmarks of parliamentary debate—to those I would simply add good taste. I hope that that is helpful.

Business of the House

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Thursday 3rd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

The right hon. Gentleman will be aware that I apologised to the Economic Secretary to the Treasury for my patronising tone in my question to her on Monday, but will he ask her to come back and apologise to the House for misleading it when she claimed that unemployment under the previous Government reached 30%?

[Mr Speaker]

Let us hear the response from the Leader of the House, but I must say, while I note what the hon. Lady has said, that we need to be very careful about accusing Members of misleading the House. She may wish to insert the word, “inadvertently”.

[Fiona Mactaggart]

I am sure that it was inadvertent. Perhaps the Economic Secretary would come to the House and explain how she arrived at that figure.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Tuesday 1st November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart]

But with both women’s unemployment and the retail prices index at a higher level than at any time since the Chancellor left university—which was probably when the hon. Lady left primary school— [Interruption.] I do not—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. All this noise slows down progress. Let’s get on.

[Fiona Mactaggart]

I was welcoming a young woman to the Front Bench, and I am glad to see young people representing people in this Parliament, but I do think it is shocking that we currently have the highest level of unemployment in more than 20 years—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I just say to the hon. Lady that what I want is a question with a question mark.

[Fiona Mactaggart]

Is it not time that this Government delivered for women on employment, and may I suggest that support for women entrepreneurs and delivering promises that they made before the election for 3,000 more midwives and 4,000 extra—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We have got the point.

Points of Order

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Thursday 23rd June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

First of all, I do not entertain hypothetical questions. Secondly, that is not a point of order and, thirdly, I say—with an audible sigh of relief—that I am not responsible for the conduct of the Whips.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will have heard my question to the Leader of the House about the accountability of the Government on women and equalities matters. He said that the arrangements had not changed at all, but I dispute that. I do not believe that the previous Government ever transferred oral questions on women and equalities to other Government Departments—and certainly not with the frequency that this Government are doing so. Is there something that you can do to protect the rights of Back Benchers to hold the Government to account on issues of women and equalities? At present, we do not have a Select Committee, we have only 15 minutes for questions, there are no topical questions and Ministers are not answering questions if they do not like them.

[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.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Thursday 16th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Chris Ruane. He is not here, so I call Fiona Mactaggart.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

T6. In his response to the hon. Member for Devizes (Claire Perry), the Secretary of State spoke about his efforts to persuade internet service providers to create an opt-in system so that families can be protected from porn on their computers. Is it not time to abandon his charm and start using the stick of regulation so we can protect families from porn flowing into the home?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Thursday 25th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Specifically on Milton Keynes, the hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart)?

[Fiona Mactaggart]

Milton Keynes and Slough are both in the same region, and they both face similar issues, because the homes in their areas are more likely to be in a lower council tax band than the homes in neighbouring areas. Is it fair that those neighbouring areas, which build bigger, richer houses, will get more money than places such as Milton Keynes and Slough, which have more band D places?

Public Expenditure Reductions (Women)

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Monday 6th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart]

The hon. Lady promised earlier that she would tell the House her assessment of the equality impact assessment.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I think that that was an intervention.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Thursday 15th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart]

Slough is facing a reduction of 3.19%.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We cannot have these sudden interventions when not expected and not in order, however frustrated people feel—and they do.

Point of Order

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and John Bercow

Thursday 15th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Is it in order for a Minister to mislead the House, as the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill,) did earlier when he claimed that no local authority had faced more than a 2% cut? Many authorities have done, including my own, and particularly Labour authorities.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order. To accuse a Minister of misleading the House is usually a hazardous enterprise, and it would be advisable for her to add the word “inadvertently” before the word “misleading”. To charge somebody with deliberately misleading the House, which is the implication of what she said, is a serious matter. It might well be that—one must assume this—if there was any misleading, it was inadvertent. If she would add that in, I will happily respond.

[Fiona Mactaggart]

Mr Speaker, perhaps you would like to invite the Minister to explain to the House how the inadvertent misleading occurred. The House has been misled. I am sure that he did not intend to mislead it, but he said something that is factually not true.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for accepting the amendment I tabled—by way of a manuscript amendment. She is a very experienced hand—I will not say she is an old hand, because that would be ageist, wrong, unfair and discriminatory—and she and I entered the House together. She has raised under the guise of a point of order an interesting point of debate, and I have a feeling that she will want to share it with the people of Slough.

Bill Presented

Superannuation Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Mr Francis Maude, supported by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary Theresa May, Secretary Liam Fox, Mr Secretary Ian Duncan Smith, Mr Secretary Lansley and Nick Hurd, presented a Bill to make provision for and in connection with limiting the value of the benefits which may be provided under so much of any scheme under section 1 of the Superannuation Act 1972 as provides by virtue of section 2(2) of the Act for benefits to be provided by way of compensation to or in respect of persons who suffer loss of office or employment.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Monday 19 July, and to be printed (Bill 58) with explanatory notes (Bill 58-EN).