Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Freeman and John Bercow

Wednesday 13th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd (Chris Ruane) is obviously a beneficiary of mindfulness himself. He seems a very calm and phlegmatic fellow these days, which was not always the case in the past.

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

The honours system is designed to acknowledge and celebrate great public service to our nation. Does my right hon. Friend agree that when a small minority of recipients of honours, like Philip Green, bring the system of honours and business into disrepute by being found to have behaved disgracefully, letting down the vast majority of businesses who set the highest standards, then it is right for this party and this Government to be the first to stand up for decent standards and look at beginning a process for seeing whether people who behave in that way should be stripped of their honour?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Freeman and John Bercow

Monday 4th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

Question 17, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

I was hoping that the hon. Gentleman would shoehorn his inquiry into question 15, because he cannot leapfrog question 16, which would displace it. I thought that if he applied his little grey cells he would realise that the subject matter of his own inquiry was pertinent to that of question 15. I should have thought that a scholar of his repute was capable of making that mental calculation, but if he wants to wait, he will have to take his chances. [Interruption.] Oh, very well.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I hope the House now keenly anticipates Mr George Freeman.

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

17. What progress he has made in closing the attainment gap for disadvantaged children.

No Confidence in Her Majesty’s Government

Debate between George Freeman and John Bercow

Wednesday 16th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[George Freeman]

My hon. Friend is probably right, but I do not want to be distracted from focusing on the issue at hand.

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition—our putative future Prime Minister—has broken promise after promise. On tuition fees, he promised a younger generation that he was going to reverse them and then reversed the promise. On debt, he wants £1,000 billion extra in borrowing and spending, taking us right back to square one after we tidied up the mess that we inherited. Mayor Khan has presided over a knife-crime epidemic in London. He talks about it but does not deal with it. The shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbott, cannot add up, let alone defend the police when they try to clamp down on crime. The truth is that the Labour Front-Bench team are exploiting the Brexit divisions—[Interruption.] I hear the heckling from Labour Members. They do not like what I am saying, but they are going to have to hear it if they want a vote of no confidence. I will not dwell on the appalling unleashing of bigotry and intolerance on the Labour Front Bench that has turned a once-great party into a disgrace.

On Brexit, the truth is that Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Opposition, is the Scarlet Pimpernel of Brexit. In the north, they seek him here, the champion of Brexit for the northern Labour seats. In the south, they seek him there, the champion of remain. [Interruption.] The truth is that the Labour Front-Bench team, who are heckling me now, have more positions on Brexit than the “Kama Sutra”. Will the real Jeremy Corbyn please stand up? In the pantomime politics—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. This tendency of Members on both sides of the House to refer to other Members by name is quite wrong. Stop it.

[George Freeman]

Will the real right hon. Member for Islington North please stand up? To channel my inner Leader of the Opposition, I was speaking this morning to Mark from Castleford on talkRADIO, who said to me that we do not need an election, because we do not have an Opposition, that Labour do not have a policy, so there is no choice, and that we need Parliament to get on and implement Brexit.

By contrast to the cowardice of the Labour Front-Bench team, I want to highlight the bravery of many Labour Back Benchers, particularly the Members who had the guts last night to stand up for their constituents and vote for a moderate, sensible Brexit. The hon. Members for Dudley North (Ian Austin) and for Bassetlaw (John Mann) and the right hon. Members for Rother Valley (Sir Kevin Barron) and for Birkenhead (Frank Field), along with the hon. Members for North Down (Lady Hermon) and for Eastbourne (Stephen Lloyd), knew that if we break our promise to the British people, this place’s credibility will be damaged.

Parliament must sort the situation out. I welcome the Prime Minister’s conversion to cross-party discussions, and I hope that the real right hon. Member for Islington North enters the room.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Freeman and John Bercow

Wednesday 28th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that behind the smiling beard of the Leader of the Opposition lies the real threat to this country’s economy—the shadow Chancellor and his reheated, hard-left Marxism? Can she reassure me and the businesses of this country that the Conservative party will put jobs, prosperity and growth before ideology?

[Mr Speaker]

We are not going to talk about beards; we are going to talk about policy. We do not want to talk about the hon. Gentleman’s beard either; we are going to talk about policy, which I know is what the Prime Minister will address.