Business of the House
Debate between John Hayes and Lucy Powell(3 days, 5 hours ago)
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Lucy Powell
My hon. Friend should be standing steadfastly at the front of the campaign to save his local post office, because such local post offices provide vital services for constituencies such as Redditch. I know that Post Office officials closely followed much of what I said in business questions last week, so hopefully they will have heard what he said today. As I said last week, the Post Office is in need of serious cultural change and it has not been fit for purpose for some time. I do not see the case for closing Crown post offices as part of that change.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
The shocking arrest of Allison Pearson, The Telegraph journalist, has caused outrage, as the Leader of the House knows, and as most recently expressed by her distinguished Back-Bench colleague, the hon. Member for Blackley and Middleton South (Graham Stringer). Will the Leader of the House arrange for the Home Secretary to come to the House to address this attack on free speech, which is wider and deeper than Allison Pearson’s arrest? The Director of Public Prosecutions has said that he “had no idea” what non-crime hate incidents are and that he had “to look them up” in the light of her arrest, and yet 11,600 such “crimes” have been recorded. Does the Leader of the House understand that, far from being the antithesis of a civilised society, the right to alarm, to disturb and, yes, to offend is the essence of an open society? If I did not alarm, disturb and offend every Maoist, Marxist, Bolshevik and belligerent Islamist, I would feel I had failed.
Lucy Powell
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question. The offences he talks about were actually introduced a couple of years ago under the previous Government—not by the current Government—by the right hon. Member for Croydon South (Chris Philp) who is now the shadow Home Secretary. The right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes) is absolutely right that we have to consider the balance between free speech alongside protecting people who suffer from the wrong end of abuse and misinformation and disinformation online which, as we saw over the summer, can cause real damage in our communities if left unchecked. That balance is one I am sure the police and others are grappling with on a daily basis.
Business of the House
Debate between John Hayes and Lucy Powell(1 week, 3 days ago)
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Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
I am extremely grateful to the right hon. Lady for the clarity and diligence she showed when dealing with the end of life debate that we will have later this month. She will be aware that there are profound concerns about the length of time for Second Reading, notwithstanding her point, simply because of the number of Members who will wish to participate—I anticipate a very large number indeed. We may see speeches reduced to two or three minutes, which really is not appropriate for a subject of this kind.
The right hon. Lady will also be aware that “Erskine May” is clear that, when nominating Public Bill Committees,
“in the case of bills which divide the House on cross-party lines”,
it is vital that the Committee of Selection should “have regard” to the composition of the House. In those terms, will she—either now or subsequently if she needs to refer to Erskine May—make absolutely sure that, as the Bill goes through the House, that balance will be retained, so that we get the best possible legislation? Nothing is more important that legislating to make lawful the entitlement to take life.
Lucy Powell
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question. I took some time in my opening remarks to explain these matters, and I recognise and understand people’s concerns. As I said, a Second Reading debate lasting five hours would be longer than that of many substantial Bills. The Second Reading debate on the Online Safety Bill, which was huge and long anticipated for five years, was reduced to just over two hours, because of earlier statements and so on. Five hours is a good amount of time for Second Reading, notwithstanding the points that he raised.
On Committee selection, the right hon. Gentleman is right that, should the Bill pass Second Reading, it will be for the sponsoring Member to put forward names for that Committee. He is right that the guidance on nominating those Members states that that must reflect the party balance in the House, and it should also reflect the balance of views on the Bill. As I said, the Bill would then return to the full House for remaining stages, including Report and Third Reading, which would all have time for debate and a vote.
Business of the House
Debate between John Hayes and Lucy Powell(3 weeks, 3 days ago)
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Lucy Powell
I know from my own constituency that such matters are raised all the time. Fire cover, and having adequate fire officers, is very important to local communities. Budgets have been cut in recent years and I know that Home Affairs Ministers take that very seriously. Home Office questions are coming up shortly, and I am sure that my hon. Friend would get a good response.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
Debates in this place are increasingly punctuated and populated by references to outside bodies, from the Environment Agency to Network Rail, and from the Migration Advisory Committee to the much mentioned Office for Budget Responsibility. None are elected or accountable to the people we serve—we do not really know who they are. May we have a debate on the increasing blob activism that threatens the separation of powers? We know about judicial activism, but this activism is just as dangerous. Those bodies wield immense power, and Ministers elected to govern should not be stymied, hampered, cowed or chastised by people with no democratic legitimacy.
Lucy Powell
The right hon. Gentleman is well known as a blob activist himself—[Hon. Members: “Oh!”] I do not mean it that way. I mean against the blob: I am sorry to be misinterpreted. If he is referring to the important financial—[Interruption.] This will start me off laughing now—
Sir John Hayes
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I think the Leader of the House needs a few moments to calm down.
Business of the House
Debate between John Hayes and Lucy Powell(1 month ago)
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Lucy Powell
This Government have taken more action than many in suspending licences for arms exports, because we are upholding international law and we are following the legal advice that we have received. That is why we have suspended approximately 30 licences to the Israel Defence Forces for arms that may be used in the current conflict and would be in breach of international law. I anticipate that the Foreign Secretary will come to the House, hopefully next week, with a further update on the middle east.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
In a righteous echo of St Matthew’s Gospel, the elimination of vicious, violent criminal Chris Kaba reminds us that those who live by weapons die by the same. Further to yesterday’s statement, there are real doubts about the fitness for purpose of the Crown Prosecution Service and the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Can we have a debate on whether those organisations have become so infected by a kind of bourgeois, liberal, doubt-fuelled virtue-signalling that they have lost the will to defend the law-abiding majority from a criminal, wicked minority?
Lucy Powell
The right hon. Gentleman will be aware that the Home Secretary came to the House yesterday and announced new steps that we will take to protect our armed police officers. It is welcome that we have cross- party support for those measures, some of which will be included in forthcoming Home Department legislation. I am sure that we will have ample time to debate them further then.
Business of the House
Debate between John Hayes and Lucy Powell(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Lucy Powell
I thank my hon. Friend for his question. The issues of flood resilience and flood preparedness get raised in this session frequently, and I anticipate that as we get towards the winter months, when flooding becomes more frequent, they will be raised more often. We have launched our flood resilience taskforce to turbocharge the delivery and co-ordination of flood defences, but this issue would make a very good topic for a Back-Bench business debate or another debate.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
No one in this House was among those who went to the South Pacific in the 1950s and ’60s to witness the first nuclear tests, but some of us have met the old men who did so as young men, unknowing of the dangers they faced. After a very long campaign, the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed that those men should be granted service medals, and the current Secretary of State for Defence has agreed that the eligibility criteria should be widened because many of the people who went have not got their medals. Given that the Prime Minister, the hon. Member for Salford (Rebecca Long Bailey)—with whom I have worked—my right hon. Friend the Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick) and others are desperate to ensure that the men get what they deserve, will the Leader of the House arrange an urgent statement? We owe these veterans, many of whom are dying, that honour, a duty and our thanks.
Lucy Powell
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising this important matter. I have followed the issue of nuclear test veterans closely, and I know that it has been raised in this House many times. A recent documentary shone a light on these issues as well. I will certainly raise this matter with the Ministry of Defence, and we have Defence questions coming up soon. I will ask the MOD to come to the House and give us an update.
Business of the House
Debate between John Hayes and Lucy Powell(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Lucy Powell
My hon. Friend is a long-standing and powerful advocate for mining communities in his constituency and beyond, and is absolutely right to say that we have a clear manifesto commitment to put this injustice right. I will ensure that the relevant Minister has heard his question and that he gets an appropriate response, and I am sure we will have further announcements in due course.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
It is a delight, Madam Deputy Speaker, to serve under your benevolent stewardship.
The House may know that I am not an advocate of unbridled, anarchic freedom. I know the harm men can do with unfettered free will. Nevertheless, the ability to speak freely is the mark of a civilised, open society, which is why the last Government introduced a higher education Bill in the light of woke tyranny. I am disappointed that the right hon. Lady, who I know is a diligent servant of this House, would allow such legislation to be rescinded, yet the Government have said that that is exactly what they will do. They are going to reverse the advance we made, so will she allow a debate on free speech? For George Orwell, as she may know, said:
“If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
Lucy Powell
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question. This Government have been clear that, in support of our world-leading global university sector, we want to end the culture wars that have ensued against our fantastic universities. As the MP for two globally leading universities, I know that that message and change of tone have been widely welcomed in the sector. I am sure that, at Education questions next week, he may want to raise the issue of the Bill.
Business of the House
Debate between John Hayes and Lucy Powell(4 months ago)
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Lucy Powell
As we have just heard, this is an important issue for a number of colleagues across the House. We are extremely concerned about the dire state of the NHS estate. RAAC is at the top of the priorities of the Department of Health and Social Care. My hon. Friend will be aware that once the presence of RAAC is confirmed at a hospital site, it joins NHS England’s national RAAC programme, which has a considerable pot of money. I will ensure that she gets an update on her hospital and that this House is updated on RAAC in NHS hospitals in general.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
I welcome the Leader of the House to her place, and may I say initially that I am sure she is a very good mum, actually? When the Government abandoned the plan to process illegal migrants offshore, they offered no real practical alternative, as my right hon. Friend the shadow Leader of the House has said. I know that many of those arriving are genuine asylum seekers, and they need to be treated accordingly, but many are not. The British people are sick and tired of people arriving here illegally—not irregularly, but illegally—and not being dealt with appropriately. Will the Leader of the House tell us when the Government intend to act? What is their timescale? What are the numbers they intend to change? Enough is enough. The British people have had enough of their borders being breached with impunity.
Lucy Powell
My daughter, who is here today, might have a different view on whether I am a good or bad mum, but that is another point.
With great respect to the right hon. Gentleman, it is a bit rich for Conservative Members to ask us these questions today, given that they presided over the worst rise in illegal migration that this country has ever seen. We have already established the border security command, reallocated resources and made use of the plane to return to Vietnam those who are here illegally. He will know that more than £700 million was allocated to the Rwanda scheme, and all they managed to do with that amount of money was get four volunteers to Rwanda. We have a plan to tackle the criminal gangs and get these numbers down, and we are getting on with delivering that plan.
Channel 4 Privatisation
Debate between John Hayes and Lucy Powell(2 years, 5 months ago)
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Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
I agree with the hon. Lady about Channel 4 and its role in film in particular, but surely she will acknowledge that we need a plural system, and that private investment and engagement is critical to that plurality. Furthermore, will she confirm that, should Channel 4 be sold off, she would renationalise it? Is that Labour’s policy?
Lucy Powell
We have a very plural system. The argument that I am making is that private and public play different roles in that important ecosystem, but I hope that the House will today agree with my motion to stop the sell-off; I am sure it will.
Channel 4, like the BBC, is fundamental to the foundations of our global success in TV and film. We flog it off at our peril. Its broadcaster-publisher model has given rise to many of our most successful production companies. That was Margaret Thatcher’s original idea. It was a good one—and I do not say that very often. Without its ability to take risks, attract different audiences, and invest in programmes and films that can seem like loss leaders, our creative economy would be all the more bland and mainstream.