Business of the House

Jesse Norman Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2026 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 16 November will include:

Monday 16 November—Second Reading of the Visitor Levy (England) Bill.

Tuesday 17 November—Remaining stages of the Immigration and Asylum Bill.

Wednesday 18 November—Opposition day (sixth allotted day). Debate on a motion in the name of the official Opposition, subject to be announced.

Thursday 19 November—General debate on International Men’s Day, followed by a general debate on the emerging risks of advanced AI. The subjects for these debates were determined by the Backbench Business Committee.

Friday 20 November—The House will not be sitting.

The provisional business for the week commencing 23 November includes:

Monday 23 November—Second Reading of the Finance Bill.

Tuesday 24 November—Consideration of Lords amendments to the Armed Forces Bill, followed by consideration of Lords amendments to the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill.

Wednesday 25 November—Opposition day (seventh allotted day). Debate on a motion in the name of the official Opposition, subject to be announced.

Thursday 26 November—General debate on inequalities in cancer care, followed by a general debate on lifelong sex education. The subjects for these debates were determined by the Backbench Business Committee.

Friday 27 November—Private Members’ Bills.

[Jesse Norman]

In this week of remembrance, we as Members of Parliament, both individually and as a House, solemnly pledge to honour those who have served and sacrificed life and limb for their country, but that pledge carries obligations beyond remembrance itself. Soldiers sent into danger under lawful orders, in life-threatening circumstances, are owed a continuing duty of care by us as their representatives and by the British state. No one is above the law, but justice also requires fairness and protection against repeated oppressive investigations decades after the events concerned.

Some 503 British Army soldiers were killed during the troubles in Northern Ireland, alongside 509 other defence and security personnel. Now the Government’s Northern Ireland Troubles Bill will expose elderly Northern Ireland veterans to the threat of precisely these repeated oppressive investigations, even where their conduct has already been examined. The safeguards proposed in the Bill do not go remotely far enough to address these concerns, so I ask MPs across the House, as they reaffirm once again their Remembrance Day pledge this week, to consider whether the Bill genuinely honours the obligations that that pledge lays upon them.

To go briefly from the sublime to the ridiculous, on Tuesday the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority migrated my office in Hereford to a new broadband provider—Onecom. My brilliant constituency team of three have worked with me for a combined 47 years all told. They could run a small European country—in some cases at least as effectively as the present Governments. They were not consulted at all about this decision or its implementation. We were given no choice and no agency in the matter. Two days later, my team are still unable to connect to the internet. They have no idea when the internet connection will be in place, and some of them are having to take days off in lieu because they cannot work from the office. The chair and chief executive of IPSA can take these remarks as a formal complaint by me and put in place action this day to address the problem, but could the Leader of the House also ask why IPSA feels the need to control my office connectivity in Hereford from London, and will he ask it to do its job so that we can do ours?

Finally, the Government promised that rail nationalisation would transform our railways for the better. South Western Railway, c2c, Greater Anglia and West Midlands Railway trains are all now under public ownership, but what has actually happened since then? The share of passenger trains arriving at their final destination within five minutes of the scheduled time has fallen rapidly since nationalisation—Greater Anglia from 93% to 90%; c2c from 92% to 84%; West Midlands Railway from 83% to 81%; and South Western Railway from 86% to 80%. All that in less than two years. Rather than better railways, passengers have had more delays, cancellations and uncertainty, while the bill to taxpayers goes up with every delay repayment made.

In Hereford, my brilliant campaigning constituent Cameroon Wood, who uses a wheelchair, has been highlighting the unequal treatment of passengers with disabilities on the railways for years. He is full of praise for the efforts made by West Midlands Railways, but there has been nothing like the improvements to access, signage or enforcement needed—above all for him to get to his beloved Aston Villa matches, but more generally as well. Can the Leader of the House explain why these services are deteriorating, what nationalisation is actually achieving that is worthwhile, and when passengers—able-bodied and with disabilities—can expect the improvements that they have been promised? If not, will he arrange an urgent statement from the Transport Secretary so that she can do so?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

Let me first of all mention the recent shooting in Krakow. This was an horrific act, and I am sure that the thoughts of the whole House are with the families of those who lost their lives, the injured and everyone affected by this senseless violence.

Remembrance Sunday is our opportunity to remember and pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of all those who defended our freedoms and protect our way of life. Can I thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, Mr Speaker and all the House staff for the events to mark remembrance across Parliament this year?

In that vein, I pay tribute to Matthew “Matt” MacKinnon-Pattison, who died on Thursday 5 November, aged 102. He was the last known surviving world war two veteran of the British Special Air Service and one of hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers who fought the Germans in Italy in the spring of 1944. I am sure that the whole House will join me in sending condolences to his friends and family.

Turning to the issue of veterans support, I agree with the right hon. Gentleman that we have a continuing obligation to servicemen and women. That is part of the reason the Prime Minister wrote to councils across England yesterday to urge them to draw up plans to offer accommodation for veterans sleeping rough ahead of this festive period. The Government are committed to tackling homelessness for good, and people who stepped forward and were prepared to put their lives on the line should never lack a roof over their head.

On other issues of public service, I pay tribute to the leader of Great Yarmouth’s Labour group, Trevor Wainwright, who has died aged 76. Trevor first became a borough councillor in 2002 and later led the council from 2012 to 2015. He gave a long and distinguished service, and I am sure that the whole House will join me in sending our deepest condolences.

Yesterday, the Modernisation Committee launched an inquiry into private Members’ Bills. They are an excellent opportunity for MPs to raise awareness of issues of importance to them and their constituents, and sometimes they change the law. I encourage all interested Members to engage with the inquiry. On wider matters, figures this morning show that the UK economy is growing at the fastest rate in almost 10 years outside the pandemic. Despite a year when events around the world have pushed up costs here at home, our economy is growing, bringing hope for the future. We keep a focus on the things that matter to people most: bringing down bills, creating good jobs and helping businesses to grow.

Let me turn to the comments of the shadow Leader of the House. Before I do so, may I congratulate him on the opening of his play “The Winding Stair”, which is playing to sold-out theatres? We look forward to it coming to the west end—

[Jesse Norman]

Or the House of Commons.

[Sir Alan Campbell]

Or, indeed, to the House of Commons. We wish the right hon. Gentleman every success. Of course, he is not the only author in the shadow Cabinet. The shadow Chancellor co-authored the Liz Truss Budget, which did so much damage to the economy. I know that the shadow Chancellor does not like me mentioning that, so I will not say any more.

I turn to the specific points raised by the right hon. Gentleman. He has every right to return to the Northern Ireland legacy, having made those points before with great sincerity. The reality is that the previous Government’s approach was rejected by British courts and left our veterans with no real protection. I agree that we owe a great debt to veterans who served and sacrificed to secure peace in Northern Ireland. We strengthened the Bill with a whole package of amendments to provide lasting protection for the armed forces, including protection from repeated investigations. The Royal British Legion has welcomed the amendments that we brought forward to address the concerns that he raises.

I am sure that IPSA will have heard the right hon. Gentleman’s remarks. We all owe a great debt to our constituency teams, who do a fantastic job, so I am sure IPSA will want to provide an answer to his questions.

On his final point about the reliability of railways, one of the most reliable in recent times has been London North Eastern Railway, which has been under Government control for quite some time. The hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) refers to other railways. Why do we need to bring them under public control? The answer is a botched privatisation. I am sure that many on the Conservative Benches will accept that it was a botched privatisation. As we bring more companies under Government control, it will take time. On reliability, I look forward to GWR coming under Government control in the near future, as I am sure the right hon. Gentleman does. The issues that he raises on behalf of his constituent, which he is perfectly entitled to do, are real concerns. By getting the railways on to a better footing, I am sure that we can begin to repair some of the damage that privatisation has caused.