Business of the House

Jonathan Reynolds Excerpts

Thursday 3rd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

The Minister with responsibility for tourism, the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose), will develop a tourism strategy. I might suggest to him that he should visit Halesowen abbey and Dudley zoo as part of the strategy of promoting tourism within the country without damaging outbound tourism.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

Will the Leader of the House be bringing forward proposals to limit and reduce the number of Ministers in the Government? I am sure that he is aware that in 1856 there were 58 Ministers in the Government, 15 of whom held Cabinet rank. Today, there are 119 Ministers, 23 of whom hold Cabinet rank. If the Government are so keen to go forward with their unilateral reduction in the number of MPs, surely it is only right that the number of Ministers should be reduced pro rata as well.

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. We had an extensive debate on this when the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill was going through this House. It is now in another place where there is also extensive debate. If and when we get the Bill back in this House, there might be an opportunity for him to raise the matter, but of course, that would not apply until after the next election and into a new Parliament, whereas the proposals for MPs would apply before the election.