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.

Business of the House

Greg Mulholland Excerpts

Thursday 23rd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

There was a debate—designated, I think, by the Backbench Business Committee—about the Mary Portas review. The Government take the issue seriously, and in the spring we will set out our response to the review.

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

May we have a statement from the Ministry of Justice, following the extraordinary and absurd case whereby David Friesner was allowed to carry on practising and defending in criminal trials, despite having been convicted of an imprisonable offence? He is now in prison for three years. So far we have not had a statement, and the Bar Standards Board says that the process is not acceptable. May we have a statement to ensure that the loophole is closed and we never again have a criminal representing a criminal?

[Sir George Young]

There will be an opportunity for the hon. Gentleman to raise the issue at Ministry of Justice questions next Tuesday. If he has not tabled a question, he might like to take his chance at topical questions. I am sure, Mr Speaker, that you have noticed his interest.

Business of the House

Greg Mulholland Excerpts

Thursday 26th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

In which case, I am very glad that I have not heard it.

The contents of the Queen’s Speech will be made available to the House in due course. Not only is the date of that event still unknown, but its contents are still a matter of ministerial discussion.

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

May we have a debate on the process of applying for village green status? In 2004, “Keep Yeadon Banks Green” applied for village green status for Yeadon Banks. Several attempts by Leeds Group plc to block it have been overturned, including in the High Court, but now, in 2012, we are having to take the matter to the Supreme Court, which is outrageous. May we have a debate on simplifying the process so that areas get the protection they need?

[Sir George Young]

I understand that part of the matter is covered in the Localism Act 2011, but many hon. Members have the same problem as my hon. Friend. I will draw it to the attention of Ministers at the Department for Communities and Local Government, but I am sure that many people would welcome any efforts that he might make to have it debated either in this Chamber or in Westminster Hall.

Business of the House

Greg Mulholland Excerpts

Thursday 24th November 2011 Commons Chamber

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

There is real concern in Otley among staff, students and the local community about the conversion of Prince Henry’s to an academy. May we have a debate on the rules surrounding conversion to academy status, because at present it can be done on a single, even a casting, vote on the governing body, and consultation can simply be whatever the school says it should be? That is clearly unsatisfactory, and it needs to be changed.

[Sir George Young]

I say to my hon. Friend—[Interruption.] Those rules are—[Interruption.] Those rules—[Interruption.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Greg Mulholland Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vaizey]

The hon. Lady makes a good point. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has pointed out, the EPG is the most important lever to protect public service broadcasting going forward. We are reviewing it as part of the communications review, and we may legislate to protect public service broadcasting.

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

12. What support his Department has provided to the rugby league Four Nations tournament.

[The Minister for Sport and the Olympics (Hugh Robertson)]

Sport England is providing £27.5 million to the Rugby Football League to support the grassroots in the period 2009-13. We are also providing up to £1.5 million to help with the hosting of the rugby league world cup in 2013. As with the six nations tournament in rugby union, we do not provide direct financial support for the Four Nations cup in rugby league, but I wish it every success.

[Greg Mulholland]

I thank the Minister for his answer and for his support. The all-party rugby league group is delighted to host the Rugby League International Federation board today, and I am sure that he will want to join us in welcoming the return of international rugby league to Wembley with the Four Nations double header on Saturday. Does he welcome the fact that there is going to be a statue of a rugby league player at Wembley, and will the Government assist in making that a success as well?

[Hugh Robertson]

I join the hon. Gentleman in welcoming the international board. That is a fantastic achievement, and yes, it is right that an appropriate way to mark that connection should be found at Wembley, which is a stadium that resonates with rugby league history as well as football history. I will of course do anything that I can to help.

Business of the House

Greg Mulholland Excerpts

Thursday 20th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand the right hon. Gentleman’s concern that, following the President’s return on 23 September, there would be renewed outbreaks of violence, and indeed there have been some very worrying incidents, with 110 people killed in clashes. We urge all parties to reach a consensus urgently on implementing a political settlement, leading to the formation of a national unity Government, the restoration of security and early elections. The right hon. Gentleman might like to ask the Backbench Business Committee whether it can hold a debate on that important issue.

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

Given that the international aid budget is now about £8 billion and will rise to £13 billion during this Parliament, given the fact that one of the worst aid crises ever seen is happening in east Africa, with a record-breaking British response, and given the fact that the Government are leading the world on international development, is it not time that the Department for International Development joined the departmental top table, starting with an hour-long International Development Question Time?

[Sir George Young]

That is an interesting proposition and we would like to have discussions through the usual channels to see whether there is an appetite for it. However, any lengthening of a session for one Department of necessity means reduced time for another, so I should like to reflect on the hon. Gentleman’s proposition to see whether there is any flexibility.

Business of the House

Greg Mulholland Excerpts

Thursday 13th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

If there is any evidence that anything illegal has taken place, the hon. Gentleman should notify the police.

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

The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee has now published its report into pub companies, which shows that self-regulation has failed and that the Government must now legislate. The Government have said they will do that, so may we have a statement in the House from the responsible Minister, instead of just the normal response to the Select Committee report?

[Sir George Young]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for his work in promoting the interests of those who run pubs and who often face onerous Pubco terms. I am aware of the report the hon. Gentleman mentions, which basically says that the voluntary agreement has not worked. I cannot anticipate when the Government will respond to that, but I will inform the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills of the hon. Gentleman’s appetite for an early announcement.

Business of the House

Greg Mulholland Excerpts

Thursday 14th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I have read the report, and the hon. Gentleman will know that IPSA gave evidence to the Public Accounts Committee earlier this week. The House has resolved to set up a committee to look at the legislation under which IPSA was established, and I am sure that that committee will be happy to take evidence from the hon. Gentleman. I am sure that IPSA will also take on board his comments. I think it quite wrong that Members should have to dig into their own pockets to carry out their responsibilities to their constituents and the House.

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

The save the pub group was delighted when the coalition Government agreed to stick to the plan put in place for pub company reform by the previous Government, based on the excellent Select Committee recommendations. The deadline is now up, and it is clear that pub companies have not done what was asked of them, so may we have a debate on that important matter, and a statutory code with a genuine free-of-tie option?

[Sir George Young]

I commend my hon. Friend for his activity on the issue; in the previous Parliament, he initiated a number of debates on it. I am sure that all Members of the House have, in their constituency, pub landlords who have faced difficulties negotiating with their pubcos. I will draw to the attention of relevant Ministers in both the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills the fact that the period has now expired, and ask them to consider whether legislation is now necessary to rebalance the terms of trade between tenants and landlords.

Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation Bid for BSkyB

Greg Mulholland Excerpts

Wednesday 13th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Some chilling words: “This one is my priority,” spoken by Rupert Murdoch about Rebekah Brooks; “There is far worse to come,” spoken by Rebekah Brooks about the revelations; “News International was deliberately thwarting a police investigation,” spoken by Commander Peter Clarke, who was in charge in the investigation and who has never said that in public until now; “I am 99% certain that my phone was hacked,” spoken by Assistant Commissioner Yates, who is in charge of counter-terrorism in this country; and “Have you ever paid police officers?” “Yes,” spoken by not just Rebekah Brooks but Andy Coulson.

Some disturbing facts: News International bullied those who opposed or were critics of the BSkyB empire; the policeman investigating News International went on to work for the company not years but weeks after he had stopped working for the Metropolitan police; Parliament has been lied to time and time again by a series of different people; material was deleted at News International and sometimes squirreled away and kept against a rainy day when a police officer might come knocking on the door to try to incriminate somebody else lower down the chain in the organisation; some people were ditched and thrown overboard, as we have seen throughout this year; and, as the right hon. Member for Bath (Mr Foster) said earlier, one of the most disgusting things that has happened in the past two weeks is that the people slaving away in the boiler room had to carry the can for those who were at the helm. That does not show that that is a decent company with which to do business.

Executive and non-executive directors at News Corporation completely failed in their fiduciary duties to ensure that criminality was not going on at their company and that the organisation was co-operating completely with the police. That involves Mr Aznar, Peter Barnes, Kenneth Cowley, Lachlan Murdoch, Thomas Perkins, John Thornton and Stanley Shuman, who should all be considering their position, too. I believe that this is proof that News Corporation is not a fit and proper body to hold its present holding in BSkyB, let alone any increased holding.

I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Maldon (Mr Whittingdale), who has been tenacious over the years on this matter. He said that BSkyB has done much that is good and I am sure all our constituents would agree. They watch lots of Sky television and enjoy their Sky Plus. The company has lots of technological innovation that only a robust entrepreneur could bring to British society, but it has also often been profoundly anti-competitive. I believe that the bundling of channels so as to increase the profit and make it impossible for others to participate in the market is anti-competitive. I believe that the way in which the application programming interface—the operating system—has been used has been anti-competitive and that Sky has deliberately set about selling set-top boxes elsewhere, outside areas where they have proper rights. If one visits a flat in Spain where a British person lives, one finds that they mysteriously manage to have a Sky box there even though it is registered to a house in the United Kingdom.

Sky has a virtual monopoly over many areas of our lives, with 67% of residential pay-TV subscriptions and 80% of pay-TV revenues—with an average spend of £492 a year.

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

I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman’s tenacity and courage over the course of this matter. He has been a credit to Parliament in the way he has pursued this. He is quite right that News International must be brought to justice, but does he agree that we must address the concentration of ownership of the media? If we do not do that, the idea that we have a free press and free media is simply false.

[Chris Bryant]

I completely agree that we failed to address the fact that we have allowed one man to have far too much power in his hands, including four newspapers and all the rights I have been talking about.

It is not just newspapers and broadcasting that have been subject to anti-competitive practices; it is also advertising. Sky spends £127 million on advertising—double what Virgin is able to—in any one year. The fact that it has such a big presence in the market makes it difficult for others to enter. It is anti-entrepreneurial to allow one person to have so much power, which is why no other country would allow it.

I suspect that the people of the country have been way ahead of we politicians on all of this. In the 10 years that I have been an MP, many have come to my constituency surgeries and demanded changes to the system. We have all failed in our duty for far too long, perhaps because we were frightened. If the Murdochs fail to attend the Select Committee next week, I believe that the people of this country will conclude that the Murdochs are waving goodbye to Britain—and maybe that would not be a bad thing.

Business of the House

Greg Mulholland Excerpts

Thursday 7th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

One of the first things that this Administration did was to bring to an end contracts for individual cars for individual Ministers. When the figures are published, I think that the hon. Gentleman will find that there has been a substantial saving in the cost of ministerial transport under the coalition Government.

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

May we have a debate on the role of local authorities in providing residential care for vulnerable older people, including those with dementia? Labour-run Leeds city council has caused uproar by announcing a raft of residential care home closures, including Spring Gardens in Otley, without offering any alternative provision to its 27 residents or any plan for where they might go.

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue that I hope the Dilnot report will begin to address. At some point we need a serious discussion about how we will fund residential and social care in future, in order to avoid the sort of decisions to which he has just referred.