Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Monday 8th July 2019

(4 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Ah! Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Or, as one might say, R2-D2 and C-3PO.

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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Come, come, young Spellar—your turn now.

John Spellar Portrait John Spellar
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I hope that the Minister will also acknowledge the great role of the Defence Committee, under the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) as Chairman, and the trade unions in maintaining the facility at GE Rugby and seeing off GE’s attempts to close it. May I bring the Minister back to the solid support ship contract and ask him to answer the question asked by my right hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Mr Jones)? What weighting is given to prosperity? Will he please stop blaming the European Union, when every other country in the European Union looks after its own industry and supports its own yards and its own steel industry? Why will he not show some gumption and do the same?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Monday 8th April 2019

(4 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I sincerely hope that the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Antoinette Sandbach) will have the Minister’s tribute framed and displayed in an appropriate place in her home, for she is not merely a champion but an exceptional champion.

John Spellar Portrait John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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13. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the (a) build quality, (b) leasehold practices and (c) other elements of the performance of the housing sector.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Monday 25th February 2019

(5 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Ah, another new young Member—a rising figure in the House. I call John Spellar.

John Spellar Portrait John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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Does the Minister now accept that although the disclosure and barring scheme was a response to a real concern, it has become a bureaucratic nightmare? It has reversed the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and prevented people from turning their lives around and providing for themselves and their families, while also being deeply discriminatory. Following the decision of the Supreme Court, will she rapidly reform the DBS—not with endless consultations, but with some real action?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Monday 14th January 2019

(5 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Spellar Portrait John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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I have today received a parliamentary answer revealing that no Transport Minister visited Gatwick during the drone crisis. Can the hon. Gentleman tell us what contingency plans his own Department had for dealing with drones at airports? Will he also tell us on what date the Transport Department—or, indeed, the Cabinet Office—asked the MOD for help and support during the crisis? How did his Department respond, and when?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I say to the right hon. Gentleman in good spirit that he is uniquely talented in delivering an oral question as though it were of the written variety.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Thursday 10th January 2019

(5 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Spellar Portrait John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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I am sure that the Secretary of State can chew gum and walk at the same time, so while he is dealing with future viability with our leaving the EU, will he also deal with the current crisis over drones affecting airports? May I give him the opportunity to answer the questions that he did not answer earlier in the week? Were contingency plans agreed with the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office to protect our airports from drone incidents and others, and if not, why not? Were such plans not activated in time because of dithering? Why did they not work? Was that the fault of the Secretary of State’s Department, the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office or, indeed, the Cabinet Office?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I listened to the right hon. Gentleman’s question with great interest. It was tangential to the substantive question, and I just say gently to him that I had been thinking of offering him an Adjournment debate on the matter, until I realised that he had, in fact, just conducted one.

Business of the House

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Thursday 22nd November 2018

(5 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I think that this is an issue still in progress. [Interruption.] The Procedure Committee has produced a report in which it has helpfully set out, if memory serves me correctly—[Interruption.] Perhaps if the House is interested in listening to what I have to say in response to the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart)—[Interruption.] When Ministers have finished their private conversation, perhaps I can respond to the point of order from the hon. Gentleman. I will start again. The matter is still in progress. The Procedure Committee has helpfully produced a report on this matter in which—[Interruption.] Perhaps I can start again. [Interruption.] Perhaps I can start again when the Leader of the House has finished her conversation with her hon. Friend on the Front Bench, the hon. Member for Calder Valley (Craig Whittaker). I would be extremely grateful for that courtesy. [Interruption.] I can happily wait. I think it would be a courtesy if Members would listen as I respond to a point that the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire has legitimately raised. I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. [Interruption.] May I just ask the Leader of the House if she will do me the courtesy of listening while I respond to the point of order from the hon. Gentleman, as I did her the courtesy of listening to her responses to the business question?

The hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire has raised an important issue, on which the right hon. Lady had some remarks to make a few moments ago. I was simply saying to him that the matter is still in progress. The Procedure Committee has produced a report in which it sets out—

John Spellar Portrait John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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She’s doing it again!

Barry Sheerman Portrait Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
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It is a discourtesy to the House.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Well, I can live with that. The Procedure Committee has produced a report in which it sets out three options for the handling of this matter. If memory serves me correctly, the Committee has indicated its view that the motion should be amendable and that amendments, in accordance with the normal procedure, shall be voted upon first. The Government will have an opportunity, if they wish, to respond to that report, and a business of the House motion from the Government is to be expected. I rather imagine that will happen before the debate, and certainly before the meaningful vote. But that there is to be an amendable motion is not something coming from me; it is a commitment that has already been made both by the Prime Minister and by the Leader of the House on the Floor of this House. That much is simple and incontrovertible. I hope that is helpful to the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire. I am sure he will keep an eye on the matter.

John Spellar Portrait John Spellar
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Is it not only disrespectful to yourself but, quite frankly, disrespectful to the House that, during a point of order relating to procedure, for which the Leader of the House is responsible not just for the Government but to the whole House, she should indulge consistently in a conversation? [Interruption.] She has now scuttled out. She indulged consistently in a conversation while you were giving a judgment on important issues relating to an enormously important matter of procedure.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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My shoulders are broad and I am happy to work on that basis, but there is an issue of courtesy to the House. I do not think any deliberate discourtesy was intended but, whatever people’s intentions, the facts of the matter are on the record. The fact is that there is a commitment to an amendable motion. The House may have an opportunity to consider the Procedure Committee’s report, or if it does not, the Government will in any case have to table some sort of motion for the consideration of these matters. This issue will not go away, and I feel sure that the strength of feeling across the House one way or the other will be heard. The Chair is attuned to the strength of feeling, and the Chair is certainly very respectful of the position taken by the Procedure Committee, which has long been regarded as a very important voice—even authority—on these matters.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Monday 22nd October 2018

(5 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The right hon. Member for Warley (John Spellar) deserves some encouragement at this very early stage of his parliamentary career!

John Spellar Portrait John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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Does the Minister not understand that to export defence equipment we have to have a strong home market, and that is why other European countries insist on building vessels such as the fleet solid support ships in their own yards, with their own workers. What blind dogma is stopping these Ministers and their Department doing the same and ensuring that we make them in Britain?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Tuesday 1st May 2018

(5 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) applied a self-denying ordinance, which is not a common feature of our proceedings, but colleagues will have noticed that there is a lot of chuntering from a sedentary position from the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman) about castles and the importance of being plugged in. He should fear not; we have not forgotten him, and nor will we.

John Spellar Portrait John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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23. Does the Minister accept that under both Governments, his and ours, the renaissance of the British motor industry has been outstanding and that JLR has been a big part of that, to the benefit of the country and particularly of the west midlands? However, the car market is being heavily hit by the Government’s ill-thought-out and ill-prepared war on diesel. Will his Department have urgent talks with the Department for Transport so that we can get our policy for the motor industry and the car market back on track?

Planning (Agent of Change)

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
1st reading: House of Commons
Wednesday 10th January 2018

(6 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
Read Full debate Planning (Agent of Change) Bill 2017-19 View all Planning (Agent of Change) Bill 2017-19 Debates Read Hansard Text

A Ten Minute Rule Bill is a First Reading of a Private Members Bill, but with the sponsor permitted to make a ten minute speech outlining the reasons for the proposed legislation.

There is little chance of the Bill proceeding further unless there is unanimous consent for the Bill or the Government elects to support the Bill directly.

For more information see: Ten Minute Bills

This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record

John Spellar Portrait John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require specified planning controls in relation to developments likely to be affected by existing noise sources; and for connected purposes.

This Bill is designed to protect existing music venues from closure or crippling cost arising from the development of new residential properties in their vicinity, especially over questions of noise.

Why is that a problem? The Music Venue Trust and UK Music have been campaigning on the matter for some time and estimate that more than a third of music venues have closed over the past decade. Many Members of Parliament have examples of much-loved venues in their area that have been closed or are under threat. That is why there has been such widespread cross-party support for this Bill, as shown by the number of Members who have already pledged their support and the turnout at this morning’s photocall. This important issue was also raised on 3 November in an Adjournment debate by my hon. Friend the Member for St Helens North (Conor McGinn). There has also been welcome support from some of the music greats. Sir Paul McCartney said today:

“Without the grassroots clubs, pubs and music venues my career could have been very different. If we don’t support music at this level, then the future of music in general is in danger.”

I accept that there is a variety of reasons for the decline in venues, but many relate to changes in the neighbourhood, increasingly when redundant commercial or industrial premises are converted to residential, or are knocked down and rebuilt, or as empty sites are developed. Of course, much of that is very welcome. It is part of the regeneration of our inner cities, restoring their historic vibrancy and creating much-needed homes. However, it can sometimes lead to the loss of what makes parts of those areas attractive in the first place, especially to younger residents. Incidentally, that applies not just to music venues but to the wider fabric of inner-city life, and there are important questions as to how we preserve the vibrancy and diversity of city life more generally across our main conurbations.

My short Bill is a modest and focused measure that would adopt the principle of agent of change into planning law. That basically means that when buildings are converted to residential use or a new development is put up, the onus is on the developer—not the venue—to ensure that the new dwellings are protected from factors, particularly noise, that could be held to affect their general amenity and enjoyment.

Moves are already being made around the country to address these concerns. Many grassroots campaigns are being mounted to save local venues. For example, among my Bill’s sponsors are my hon. Friends the Members for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) and for Bristol West (Thangam Debbonaire), who have been campaigning with the Music Venue Trust in support of The Fleece in Bristol—a city, incidentally, that I am informed has more office-to-residential conversions than anywhere outside London.

Two other sponsors, my hon. Friends the Members for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan) and for Cardiff Central (Jo Stevens), have been supporting the “Save Womanby Street” campaign, along with my hon. Friends the Members for Cardiff North (Anna McMorrin) and for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty). That has led directly to the Welsh Labour Government’s welcome adoption of the agent of change principle across Wales. Another sponsor, the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (David Warburton), is concerned to protect the rapidly growing Cheese and Grain—a much valued venue in Frome—which shows that this is not just about the inner cities. The Mayor of London, with “London’s Grassroots Music Venues: Rescue Plan”, has that he will be introducing an agent of change rule into the next London plan. As I mentioned, the Welsh Government have announced a similar move, and this is also already under consideration by the Scottish Parliament and Government.

My Bill will provide the legislative reinforcement for that. It aims to give much greater clarity and greater power for local councils and planning inspectors to incorporate the principle into planning decisions. Why do it? Why was I so receptive to this idea, and why is there such strong public support? Because it matters. Of course it matters to those who enjoy the entertainment and for whom it opens new horizons. Obviously, it also matters for the staff and owners of the venues. But it matters a lot more than that—and not just for the nearby late-night kebab shops.

For a start, there is the impact on musicians, which is why the Bill is being supported by the Musicians’ Union. Less venues means less work and less opportunity to develop talent—or even for musicians to find out that they are not going to make it in the industry. It also means less opportunity to move up from amateur to part-time to full-time professional, and to national or even international stardom. I was talking today to Billy Bragg, who mentioned that he tried three times to move from having an ordinary job and working part-time to being a full-time musician. It was the existence of the clubs, pubs and venues that enabled him finally to make it on to the national stage.

We are in danger of taking away the ladder that has served both individual musicians and the music industry so well for so long. And what an industry—not only are domestic sales rising again, but we are second only to the United States in international reach and sales. It is a huge boost to Britain’s standing around the world and our soft power—not to mention millions in overseas sales last year—let alone being a significant part of our tourism offer. But there is a real concern that the industry is now depending on a great past, with a lot of grey hair around. Now, I declare an interest, as I am in favour of good representation of grey hair, but I also support refreshing the pipeline with new talent. That is no comment on yesterday’s Government reshuffle. There is a danger of mining, rather than farming, our musical heritage. Losing music venues also narrows a route of opportunity for working-class youngsters, many from our deprived inner cities and left-behind industrial towns.

As a west midlands MP, I am of course proud to represent part of the area that gave birth to heavy metal, and I am particularly focused on the cities and conurbations. However, I also recognise how damaging the loss of venues can be to the life and attraction of smaller towns, and to retaining youngsters and slowing the drift to the cities. All those factors are important, but there is another factor that makes this provision imperative, and it is why the matter requires urgent action either from Parliament or the Government—given the wide level of cross-party support from ex-Ministers, as well as members of the MP4 band, I hope that the Government will adopt this measure and help to push it through. That factor is Brexit.

As Brexit is happening and we face an uncertain future, it is vital that Britain is made more efficient and effective across the board and that we maximise every possible advantage that Britain has. One of these is clearly our cultural and entertainment offer, not only in London but in our other great centres around the country, many of which, including Birmingham and Manchester, are attracting increasing foreign investment and work—although, of course, Birmingham is the best venue for Channel 4.

Companies clearly locate initially for a range of hard-headed, financial, economic and communication reasons, but quality of life is also significant. It is partly about personal safety, environmental quality and a pleasant streetscape, but it is also about the answer to the basic question, “Would I want to live there?” That is a question not only for companies, but for the staff they are seeking to attract, especially the highly mobile, technically skilled and talented international and multinational workforce, not least in our huge creative sector. The cultural and living environment is important to them. That means art galleries, theatres, concert halls, opera, ballet, football clubs, rugby clubs and other sporting environments, but it also means music venues and the street scene. It poses a question to those companies that are being enticed to move abroad after Brexit: “Would you and your family—especially your children and, equally importantly, your employees—prefer to live in London, Birmingham or Manchester, or in Frankfurt?”

I hope that this measure will provide some small but useful assistance and relief to a valued industry. I commend the Bill to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

Ordered,

That John Spellar, Kevin Brennan, Sir Greg Knight, Pete Wishart, Jo Stevens, Mr Edward Vaizey, Kerry McCarthy, David Warburton, Conor McGinn, Mr Nigel Evans and Thangam Debbonaire present the Bill.

John Spellar accordingly presented the Bill.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 19 January, and to be printed (Bill 149).

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Friday 19 January is a very good day; it is my birthday.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Thursday 13th July 2017

(6 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. This question has been narrowly confined to Mid Sussex, from which the right hon. Gentleman’s Warley constituency is a considerable distance away. If he is going to focus his question exclusively on Mid Sussex, not “and elsewhere” or “and other places”, we will hear him.

John Spellar Portrait John Spellar
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Will the Minister accept that the improvements to the road system to East Sussex—

Trident: Test Firing

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Monday 23rd January 2017

(7 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.

Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.

This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record

John Spellar Portrait Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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There is no doubt about why the hon. Member for North East Somerset (Mr Rees-Mogg) wanted this to be held in private. It was not to keep our secrets from the Russians, but to save the embarrassment of Ministers and the Prime Minister. In Talleyrand’s words:

“It’s worse than a crime, it’s a mistake.”

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I have known the right hon. Gentleman long enough to know of his naturally pugnacious and combative spirit, but that must not elide into impugning the integrity of another hon. Member. He has had his bit of fun, but he must now wash out his mouth, withdraw those words and put a question, for which the nation will be grateful.

John Spellar Portrait Mr Spellar
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I certainly withdraw any implication that the hon. Member for North East Somerset (Mr Rees-Mogg) was worried about embarrassment to the Minister.

Will the Minister confirm that in Lord Hennessy’s book “The Silent Deep” there is a full description of a previous firing? How is it an operational matter or a security threat merely to ask when the Minister and Prime Minister were made aware of the problem and why they decided to keep it quiet?

Justice Committee

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Monday 31st October 2016

(7 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I will come to the hon. Gentlemen —he will continue his speech in a moment. He himself anticipated the possibility that the Chair might take an interest if he were to cross the line between what was legitimate and orderly to say and what was not. Thus far, the hon. Gentleman has observed that distinction and, on that basis, I am content for him at this stage to continue.

John Spellar Portrait Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. It is absolutely right that we have procedures, but we also have conventions, which evolve. The convention that has evolved in the House, as far as I am aware, is that each of the parties, within their own ranks, decides their members of the Committees, although the whole House votes, rightly or wrongly, on who the Chairs of the Committees should be. Therefore, gratuitously for a Member to try to disrupt that convention is extremely unfortunate, even if it might be just the right side of the Standing Orders.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I entirely understand what the right hon. Gentleman is saying. I am not insensitive to him or to his point, which he has made with his usual force and eloquence. That said, a convention is one thing and a binding rule is another. I must simply make the point that, at this stage, the hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) is in order. He may have offended the sensibilities of the right hon. Gentleman, and indeed departed from what is normal convention in this place, but he is at this stage in order.

Andrew Bridgen Portrait Andrew Bridgen
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Thank you for that clarification, Mr Speaker. I am pleased that so far the speech is so good.

An allegation in the Sunday Mirror, with supporting video footage, implied that the right hon. Member for Leicester East had offered to purchase class A drugs while using the services of escorts.

Electoral Reform (Proportional Representation and Reduction of Voting Age)

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Wednesday 20th July 2016

(7 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Spellar Portrait Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. There is no concept of giving way in respect of exchanges on ten-minute rule motions, a factor of which the right hon. Gentleman with his long experience ought to be aware.

European Union (Referendum) Bill

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Friday 8th November 2013

(10 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Spellar Portrait Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Is it not the case that anyone speaking from the Dispatch Box on the Government side of the Chamber is speaking on behalf of the Government?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The right hon. Gentleman is correct. That is the situation—a Minister who speaks from the Treasury Bench is speaking for the Government.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Thursday 4th July 2013

(10 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Spellar Portrait Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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After the great flood, in the words of the old negro spiritual,

“God gave Noah the rainbow sign,

No more water but fire next time”.

Smethwick has certainly suffered from fire this week. Will the Minister, with other Departments, look urgently at banning sky lanterns and, with the Environment Agency, look at the licensing arrangements regarding storage at recycling sites that have large quantities of flammable material?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The right hon. Gentleman might wish to seek an Adjournment debate on the matter.

Sittings of the House (22 March)

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Wednesday 6th March 2013

(11 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I think that the hon. Gentleman’s meaning was clear, but it was notably colloquial—obviously too colloquial for the advanced and refined taste of the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Thomas Docherty).

John Spellar Portrait Mr Spellar
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Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am sure that the hon. Member for City of Chester (Stephen Mosley) will get the hang of this place after a while.

Essentially, the Government determine the business of the House. It is absolutely right that that can be voted on, but it is the Government who work out the pattern of the parliamentary year—

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None Portrait Several hon. Members
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rose—

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. Has the right hon. Member for Warley (Mr Spellar) concluded his oration?

John Spellar Portrait Mr Spellar
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indicated assent.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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He has. I should not sound, or look, so surprised.

European Union

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Tuesday 13th December 2011

(12 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Spellar Portrait Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. We live in some fairly interesting times, because not only do we have a Deputy Prime Minister who has gone missing, but I am reliably informed that not one Liberal Democrat Member voted in the Lobby to support the Prime Minister. Is there a precedent for that within a Government?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The right hon. Gentleman is a wise greybeard, and he will know that there are precedents for most things, but fortunately whether people vote or the way in which they vote is not a matter for the Chair. However, he has put his point forcefully on the record.

Points of Order

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Wednesday 30th November 2011

(12 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. Each case is, of course, considered on its merits, but what I would say to him and to the House is twofold. First, I am always keen to ensure that as many Back-Bench Members as possible should have the opportunity to question Ministers of the Crown. Secondly, as the House will be conscious, I am insistent that statements of policy should first be made to the House of Commons, not outside it. There have been notable breaches of that established protocol and they are a source of concern. To the hon. Gentleman I say explicitly that yesterday I was particularly keen to ensure a full airing of the issues, not least because I wished to hear whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer had anything to say in the Chamber that he had not already said in the media. I hope that that response to his point of order satisfies the hon. Gentleman’s curiosity.

John Spellar Portrait Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Yesterday, you said:

“All hon. Members, including Ministers, are responsible for the content and accuracy of the statements they make to the House. If an error has been made it is the responsibility of the Member who made it to correct it.”—[Official Report, 29 November 2011; Vol. 536, c. 848.]

On Monday, the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) said, reported at column 709 of Hansard,

“The shadow Foreign Secretary did not mention Libya once in this whole conversation, and one wonders why”.—[Official Report, 29 November 2011; Vol. 536, c. 709.]

Yet my right hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Mr Alexander) had clearly dealt with Libya, as reported at column 695. Yesterday, I drew that to the hon. Gentleman’s attention, hoping that he would have the courtesy to apologise for inadvertently misleading the House and to set the record straight. I cannot see that he did so in yesterday’s Hansard. Has he indicated to you that he intends to do so today, Mr Speaker? If he has not, how can we ensure that the correct position is placed on the record?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I have had no such indication from the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham. When the right hon. Gentleman asks by what means he can secure redress, I think that he has found his own salvation, courtesy of his point of order. Although I am certainly not going to instruct anybody to come to the House—Members must take responsibility for what they do—there is nothing wrong with apologies from time to time. They are on the whole good for the soul, I think.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Monday 10th October 2011

(12 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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On question 14, I call Mr John Spellar.

John Spellar Portrait Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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No. 15, Mr Speaker.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I do not think that the right hon. Gentleman has quite taken my hint, but I am sure that he can ask his question under this one with great dexterity.

John Spellar Portrait Mr Spellar
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Is there not great concern in Libya about the future of the surface-to-air missiles? When I asked the Minister for the Armed Forces about this back in June, he said:

“We continue to assess the situation in Libya closely, including the potential proliferation of man-portable anti-aircraft missiles.”—[Official Report, 28 June 2011; Vol. 530, c. 672W.]

From his answer earlier, he does not seem to have been doing a great deal. This is a major threat and we need some evidence of urgency and some results.

Points of Order

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Tuesday 22nd March 2011

(13 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Spellar Portrait Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Have you received any communication from Vodafone to explain its poor network coverage in the Westminster area since last Friday? Fortunately, I am on another network, but other Members are experiencing irregular reception and failing to get Rapide messages, which is quite unacceptable. Are you able to do anything about the situation, which is highly disruptive to the work of the House and its Members?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I fear that that is not a point of order and that the right hon. Gentleman perhaps entertains unrealistic expectations of my powers, although I take his point in the constructive spirit in which he volunteered his remarks. I have received no communication from Vodafone on this important matter. However, I think that I am right in saying that it would be of interest to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, representatives of which, I hope, will get to hear of what he said.

Points of Order

Debate between John Spellar and John Bercow
Tuesday 15th March 2011

(13 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order and for notice of it. I sympathise with the concern that he has expressed. I understand that other hon. Members have been affected in the same way. I deprecate late replies, but Ministers are responsible for their answers. Oral questions to the Department for Education will be taken next Monday. I suggest that the hon. Gentleman and others with similar experiences and views seek advice from the Table Office on how to pursue this matter. The Deputy Leader of the House is in his place and will have heard the concern expressed. This is a serious matter, and I hope that something will indeed be done to address the concern that the hon. Gentleman and others regularly raise.

John Spellar Portrait Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Have you had any notification that either the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government or the Secretary of State for Health wants to make a statement about the crisis in Southern Cross Healthcare, whose share price has collapsed to one hundredth of its peak? Southern Cross Healthcare has 750 care homes across the country, with 31,000 elderly and vulnerable residents. They and their relatives need urgent reassurance and action from Ministers.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The short answer to the right hon. Gentleman is that I have received no indication that any Minister wants to make a statement on the subject. He has put his concerns about the matter on the record explicitly. I will not call him an old hand, because he will take offence, but he is a wily operator, and I have a feeling that he will use the opportunities open to him in the House to pursue this matter for as long as he judges necessary.