Business of the House

Greg Hands Excerpts

Thursday 2nd December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

We had a real debate last Tuesday, when the Opposition chose it as a subject; I hope that the hon. Gentleman is not saying that that was not a real debate. We will have a further debate next Thursday on tuition fees, and there will be an opportunity later to debate when we need to change the legislation to raise the cap on the interest rate. I honestly believe that there have been adequate opportunities, and there will be even more, to debate the future of higher education.

[Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)]

Staying on the subject of higher education, may we also have a debate about Members of the House who are supporting direct action by students? Earlier, I notified the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) that I would be raising this matter. His Twitter feed this morning said:

“Support Support The Occupations!....To all the student occupations I send a message of my support and solidarity.”

Will my right hon. Friend join me in agreeing that we should be democratically debating the measures rather than taking part in the disruption of our higher education institutions?

[Sir George Young]

I entirely agree. All hon. Members should act responsibly and should not do anything that encourages unlawful action. I think I read that the hon. Member to whom my hon. Friend refers was going to have a conversation with the Opposition Chief Whip; his future can be safely dealt with by those authoritative hands.

Oral Answers to Questions

Greg Hands Excerpts

Monday 29th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)]

4. What discussions he has had with the House of Commons Commission on the effectiveness of orientation programmes for hon. Members after the May 2010 general election.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons (Mr David Heath)]

My right hon. Friend the Leader of the House has had no specific discussion with the Commission on this subject, but I am sure that the whole House, particularly hon. Members elected for the first time in May this year, will wish to join me in thanking the staff of the House for the considerable effort that went into delivering the induction programme.

[Greg Hands]

My hon. Friend has spoken about the great successes of the programme earlier this year for new Members, but surely he must agree that existing Members should not be overlooked. I note that there is one Member who has spoken here only once since the election, has tabled no questions, and has made only five of the 131 votes that he might have made. Will my hon. Friend agree to have a word with the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Mr Brown), assuming that he can be found, and perhaps suggest that some orientation might be needed?

[Mr Heath]

I am sure, Mr Speaker, that it would be invidious to discuss the attendance record of any individual Member. It does worry me, I have to say, if some Members have problems reconciling the competing pressures of writing books and making well-paid speeches with their duties in this House. However, I hope that in the context of the present economic situation, those with particular experience of, say, ending boom and bust will feel able to contribute to our debates.

Business of the House

Greg Hands Excerpts

Thursday 18th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, but the specific incident that he mentioned is a matter for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. I think we all have a role in challenging extremism. We should all stand up for our shared British values and against extremists and their bigoted, racist and false ideology.

[Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)]

The Leader of the House will have seen reports earlier this week that the internet is running out of space. Can we have a debate on that to ask Members how they can do their bit to help? I note that the right hon. Member for Morley and Outwood (Ed Balls) still has a live website, edballs4labour.org, and a Twitter account for his leadership bid, @TeamEdB. Perhaps he has plans to reactivate those in the near future, but in the meantime will the Leader of the House call on all hon. Members to remove needless clutter from the internet?

[Sir George Young]

We would all endorse that, and I am sure that no one would be happier than the Leader of the Opposition if the right hon. Member for Morley and Outwood (Ed Balls) withdrew those websites.