Business of the House

Greg Mulholland Excerpts

Thursday 17th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

With respect, that is a game that we can play as well, having listened to previous Prime Ministers for 13 years. One of my colleagues actually wrote a book compiling not only the failures to answer questions but the inaccurate answers that a previous Prime Minister gave. The Prime Minister always answers questions as accurately, honestly and openly as he can, and I would rebut any criticism of his performance at the Dispatch Box.

[Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD)]

Despite having the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies, we continue to have Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland questions in the House, which are often dominated by English MPs asking questions provided by the Whips Office. If we are to continue with this, is it not time to have English questions, too, so that English MPs can raise questions important to the English people?

[Sir George Young]

The principle of oral questions is that the House should have the opportunity to hold Secretaries of State and Ministers to account. That is why there are separate Northern Ireland, Scotland and Welsh questions. English Ministers, of course, have to answer for English-related matters when at the Dispatch Box. If the House wants to hold the Government to account, the best way to do it is by a series of departmental questions, which is what we have now.