Business of the House

Jesse Norman Excerpts

Thursday 11th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jesse Norman (Hereford and South Herefordshire) (Con)]

Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?

[The Leader of the House of Commons (Sir Alan Campbell)]

The business for the week commencing 15 December will include:

Monday 15 December—Consideration of a Lords message to the Employment Rights Bill, followed by Second Reading of the Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill.

Tuesday 16 December—Second Reading of the Finance (No. 2) Bill.

Wednesday 17 December—If necessary, consideration of a Lords message, followed by Second Reading of the National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill, followed by if necessary, consideration of a Lords message.

Thursday 18 December—General debate on matters to be raised before the Christmas Adjournment. The subject for this debate was determined by the Backbench Business Committee.

The House will rise for the Christmas recess at the conclusion of business on Thursday 18 December and return on Monday 5 January 2026, when the provisional business for that week will include:

Monday 5 January—Debate on a motion on mobile connectivity in rural areas. The subject for this debate was determined by the Backbench Business Committee.

Tuesday 6 January—Second Reading of the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill.

[Jesse Norman]

A key theme of business questions has been the need for the Government and, indeed, the whole country to be resolute in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine. In that context, I know the whole House will want to join me again in expressing our profound sorrow for the death of Lance Corporal George Hooley of the Parachute Regiment. He was clearly an exemplary soldier. We salute his courage and his service, and we send our deep regrets and condolences to his friends and family.

You will have noted, Mr Speaker, that I have inaugurated a chink-of-light moment at business questions, recognising a time when, accidentally, deliberately or under compulsion, the Government have done something right. Last week, they quite rightly dropped day one protections in the Employment Rights Bill. In that same spirit, I express my very strong support for work under way on the need for European nations to collaborate on immobilising, freezing and utilising Russian financial assets for the benefit of Ukraine. Will the Leader of the House make inquiries with the relevant Ministers to ensure that the Government are taking every conceivable measure to do the same immobilisation, freezing and utilisation for any Russian assets controlled by UK financial institutions or passing through the jurisdiction of the City of London?

I do not know whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer is a fan of the film “Casablanca”. The House will recall the immortal moment in which the morally flexible chief of police, Captain Renault, professes himself “Shocked, shocked” to discover that there is gambling going on in Rick’s casino, even while he trousers his own winnings. So it is with the Chancellor, who told the Treasury Committee this week of how angry and upset she was at the level of leaking of the Budget that had taken place. It was, as she put it, “incredibly damaging”, and she had initiated an immediate leak inquiry.

I do not think that I am revealing a state secret in telling the House that that inquiry will not name any individuals as responsible or, indeed, discover that anyone was at fault at all, let alone in the nest of singing skylarks now occupying Downing Street. It is, however, offensive to think that the head of the Office for Budget Responsibility can investigate and review the leak there and resign within a matter of hours while this nonsense drags on. We must therefore conclude that, as with Captain Renault, the whole thing is a sham confected for the benefit of the Government.

Even so, it is quite a revealing sham. One does not normally think of the Chancellor as a philosopher of language—though doubtless that will soon be added to her CV—but she drew an interesting distinction in her testimony between what she called authorised and unauthorised leaks. What, one might ask, is an authorised leak supposed to be? Given how damaging leaks are to the markets, should we think of authorised leaks as somehow not having those damaging effects? Under some circumstances, the act of leaking can itself be a criminal offence, or does that apply only to unauthorised leaks? If it does, perhaps someone should inform the Metropolitan police. I ask the Leader of the House to encourage the Chancellor to complete her inquiry within days and to make a statement to the House once the inquiry has reported, setting out its approach and results and explaining in plain English what an authorised leak is supposed to be.

Let me go further. Thanks to some excellent—indeed, forensic—detective work by my right hon. Friend the Member for Melton and Syston (Edward Argar), it appears that two Government leak inquiries are still outstanding many months after they were launched. The first is in the Department for Education on the leaking of the tuition fee increases, dating back a full year to November 2024, and the second is in the Cabinet Office on the leaking of the Prime Minister’s defence statement in February—a topic on which you, Mr Speaker, had some very pithy words for the premier. It is a total embarrassment to the Government that these leak inquiries are still outstanding after so long. They underline what a charade this whole process has become. I cannot imagine that the Leader of the House feels any differently about all of this, so will he please sort it out as soon as possible?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

First, I join the shadow Leader of the House in sending our condolences to the friends and family of Lance Corporal Hooley, who died while serving our country and in the cause of keeping the flame of freedom alive.

As we approach Christmas, I want to recognise the contribution that charities make across our country. Homelessness charities in particular provide an invaluable service in supporting those experiencing homelessness throughout the year, but particularly as the temperatures fall. I draw the House’s attention to the launch of the Government’s homelessness strategy today, which aims to halve the number of people sleeping rough long term by 2029 and which will rewire the system to ensure that support is where it is most needed. My hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Homelessness will provide further details to the House in her statement later today.

I also want to mention the charity Citizens UK, which does a fantastic job across the country, including in my constituency, and which has been selected by The Guardian for its charity appeal this year. As a result of Citizens UK’s successful campaign, it has helped to triple the number of living wage employees across the north-east region and launched a citizens commission on mental health, particularly for young people. It has had a direct influence on the excellent work that the Government are doing in that regard. I want to place on the record, as the Member of Parliament for Tynemouth, my thanks to the Reverend Simon Mason and Father Chris Hughes, who provide fantastic leadership on these matters.

I am pleased to announce today the publication of the Modernisation Committee’s first report with recommendations to improve accessibility across the parliamentary estate. It is simply not acceptable that some MPs, staff and visitors are prevented from engaging in some aspects of parliamentary life due to this place’s inaccessible nature. As the crucible of our democracy and national debate, the House of Commons must be accessible for all, and I am happy to say that work is under way, but much more needs to be done. I thank all members of the Committee and the former Leader of the House, my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell), for their work on the inquiry.

On wider matters, last week the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Act 2025 received Royal Assent, which will protect vulnerable animals by strengthening the rules on pet travel to ensure that animals imported into the country for sale are healthy, treated with care and transported humanely. I congratulate the hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers) on navigating the Bill successfully to Royal Assent, which underlines, as we approach a second Session at some point in the new year, how important private Members’ Bills can be. They can be highly effective and can provide an invaluable opportunity for Members to promote the causes they support, to change the law and—certainly in this case—to help deliver Government priorities.

If the shadow Leader of the House wants to take credit for some changes, I am pleased to let him live in a world in which he can do that. On Russian assets, the Government continue, as he knows, to consider how Russian assets might be used, particularly in support of Ukraine. We are working very closely with allies to make progress on that. I can assure him that we are constantly aware of what might be happening in our own country and therefore take these domestic issues very seriously indeed.

The shadow Leader of the House mentioned leaks and what the Chancellor said to the Treasury Committee yesterday. She made her views on leaks and briefings, including what happened with the OBR ,very clear to the Committee. Of course, any Government have a responsibility around Budget time to take market reaction into account, but I gently remind the shadow Leader of the House that the reaction of the markets to the Budget was actually quite positive—I want to ensure that that is on the record. If anything emerges from the inquiries that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor talked about yesterday, I am sure that Ministers will want to update the House about those matters—they would be absolutely right to do so—but I gently remind the House that, although all these discussions about process are important, the Budget was about cutting the cost of living, balancing the books and getting growth in our economy, and those are the matters of most interest to people in our constituencies.