Business of the House

Ian Mearns Excerpts

Thursday 30th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

If I may, I will begin with the specific question on UK Visas and Immigration. It is extremely important that Members get proper responses from all Government Departments, and Departments have strict guidelines on responding to Members that they must follow. I understand that there were issues when Members wrote as candidates during the election and did not receive full responses. It seems to me completely obvious that Members who have been returned should receive responses as Members, regardless of whether or not the House was dissolved at the point at which they wrote. I think that it would be bureaucratic folderol to say that they were not Members on the date the letter was sent, even though they are Members now. I will certainly ensure that the relevant Home Office Minister is aware of that.

The right hon. Lady, as always, quite rightly raised the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Since our last business questions, the Prime Minister has met Mr Ratcliffe. The British Government remain extremely concerned about the welfare of British-Iranian dual nationals. The treatment of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been appalling. It is something that should not be done by civilised nations that are part of the international community. The Government are in regular contact with her family and with the Iranian authorities, and we continue to push for a proper outcome and for her release, but this has taken much longer than anyone would have hoped.

As for the length of the Session, we have given dates up until Christmas, so we have been quite generous, really. We in Her Majesty’s Government are doing our best to keep people fully informed, and I am sure that we will continue to do so.

I add my congratulations to those that the right hon. Lady offered to Members who have been elected to chair Select Committees. The elections were a very successful enterprise. I am pleased that the House has managed to get proper scrutiny up and running reasonably quickly and in accordance with our Standing Orders. We now wait to hear from the respective parties on their nominees for the membership of Select Committees. Everything is going ahead in a pretty timely manner.

As for the machinery of government changes, DExEU will indeed cease to exist on 31 January, and the schedule of questions will be announced in due course. The right hon. Lady must be pleased that these matters are going to Downing Street, because the Prime Minister is regularly accountable. It is not quite on the hour every hour, but every Wednesday at 12.30 pm the Prime Minister is here to answer questions.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

Prime Minister’s questions are at 12 o’clock.

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

Yes, that is right. We all know when he is here: 12 o’clock on Wednesdays for half an hour, to 12.30 pm—you keep it running to time punctiliously, Mr Speaker. It means that anything that is going to No. 10 will have proper scrutiny weekly.

I am absolutely delighted that the right hon. Lady has been imbued with the words of my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Sir William Cash) over the decades about the importance of parliamentary sovereignty—dare I say that there is more joy in heaven over the one sinner who repenteth than the 99 who are not in need of repentance? I am glad that parliamentary sovereignty is now being taken seriously across the House, rather than being focused in that fantastic corner over there on the Government Back Benches, where I used to sit in happy times.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

This Government are taking the matter of bus transport extremely seriously and are going to devote some hundreds of millions of pounds to improving bus services across the country. My hon. Friend is right that that includes providing good shelters and up-to-date information, which encourages people to use the buses more often.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

I thank the Leader of the House for the business statement. Will he urge his right hon. and hon. Friends in his business unit to get the appointments to the Backbench Business Committee done as soon as possible, as I also urge my right hon. Friend the shadow Leader of the House to do? I understand that the Scottish National party has already made its nominations. We would love to get the Committee up and running as soon as possible so that it can help out the Leader of the House in determining business.

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I entirely agree with that. We will work on this as fast as possible. We took up suggestions from the Backbench Business Committee for next Thursday, which would ideally be the Backbench Business day.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ian Mearns]

indicated assent.

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The Chairman of the Backbench Business Committee is nodding, and I think his Committee would be a very good starting point.