Business of the House

Lindsay Hoyle Excerpts

Thursday 13th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jesse Norman]

I am sure I speak for many Members when I thank you, Mr Speaker, and the whole of the Speaker’s Office for the work you have put in to make this past week of remembrance so memorable. The gardens of remembrance, the projection of images from the second world war on to the Elizabeth Tower, the wreath laying in Westminster Hall and much else—all these things, I know, took a huge amount of organisation, co-ordination and hard work, so I thank you and your office. I draw colleagues’ attention to the launch of the project to build the remembrance clock at the national arboretum, and hope that they will dig deep to support that.

In the spirit of exchanging news stories that have developed over the past two or three weeks, I will, if I may, set out a raft of intriguing items. Nine former four-star generals have condemned the Government’s treatment of veterans on Remembrance Day. One million more people than a year ago are now claiming universal credit without any requirement to look for a job. The Chancellor gave an unexpected early press conference—apparently to prepare people for major tax rises—and the Prime Minister acknowledged yesterday the rise in national insurance. Junior doctors have announced a five-day strike, starting tomorrow, in pursuit of a 26% pay rise, on top of the woefully inadequate—as they see it—29% received last year. No. 10 Downing Street has insisted that the Prime Minister has full confidence in Morgan McSweeney, and that he—or perhaps Mr McSweeney —will still be Prime Minister at the next election.

It has rightly been said that our country has moved from being post war to being pre-war. In recent weeks, we have seen a marked escalation of the conflict in Ukraine: Russian forces have made gains in and around the city of Pokrovsk, threatening to cut transport routes and displace thousands more civilians, and missile and drone attacks on energy and transport infrastructure have intensified, with serious consequences for Ukraine’s ability to sustain its economy through the winter. These developments follow reports of a significant increase in Russian arms production and continued circumvention of sanctions through covert oil and gas shipments. At the same time, international aid flows have slowed, and Ukrainian forces are facing actual or potential shortages of money, ammunition or equipment.

All that, I suggest, underlines the need for Parliament to take stock. Three years into the conflict, the nature of the war is shifting, and now demands renewed strategic co-ordination among Ukraine’s allies. In that context, I ask the Leader of the House to commit to keeping back 4 December for the Backbench debate on Ukraine requested by my brilliant hon. Friend the Member for Harwich and North Essex (Sir Bernard Jenkin) and agreed by the Backbench Business Committee.

By my calculation, we have not had a general debate on Ukraine on the Floor of the House since February this year, and not on a substantive motion since 2023. The debate would allow the House to review the current worrying state of military preparedness and humanitarian situation, the position on frozen Russian financial assets held in Europe, the status of occupied territories that Russia wrongly claims for itself, and the Government’s approach to long-range defensive support and sanctions enforcement. Right hon. and hon. Members could examine the diplomatic context, test Government policy and cross-departmental co-ordination, and bring the diverse range of expertise and knowledge across the House to bear on a crucial issue facing the entire continent of Europe. Above all, it would allow this House of Commons, as an institution, to brief itself in full and demonstrate the strong sense of unity that exists in this country on the vital defence of our sovereign ally, Ukraine. The House has been steadfast in its support for Ukraine, and rightly so, but, as the conflict evolves, we must ensure our response evolves with it. It is possible that the Leader of the House’s genius for prognostication and intelligence-gathering may have already caused him to form a supportive view of this request, but, if not, I ask very much that he have the Government make time on 4 December for that timely and important debate.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Leader of the House.

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[Sir Alan Campbell]

My hon. Friend is a doughty advocate for her constituents. This sounds like an untenable situation for some of her constituents. She is absolutely right to say that the Renters’ Rights Act will transform the experience of private renting, and we have also brought Awaab’s law into force in the social rented sector. I will ensure that she gets a meeting with a Minister, so that she can make her case directly and find out more about what the Government intend.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Bobby Dean (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. May I join the Leader of the House and the shadow Leader of the House in thanking you and all the staff for playing a role in organising the remembrance events of the past week?

I, too, would like to focus on Ukraine this week. Russia’s war is rumbling on and we are about to enter a long and cold winter, in which it looks like temperatures will drop below minus 20°C. We hear that Vladimir Putin has a vicious plot to attack the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, threatening the heat supply to the very homes in which families are trying to survive. As Russia makes advances, it feels like Britain and its allies have reached a bit of a stalling point. We are standing around worrying whether it is legitimate to seize Russian assets, and we are worried about potential future legal claims by the Russian state. All the while, Putin is pouring petrol into his war machine. I feel that the time for deliberation is surely over. Several legal routes have been proposed, and it is now time to act.

In the meantime, one of the weapons that we have in our armoury is the sanctions regime against Russia. It is important not only to impose these sanctions, but to enforce them. It was quite shocking to learn this week that the Government were unable to explain why over £30 million-worth of Russian planes were imported into the UK. I note that the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation is much smaller than its equivalents in the US and the EU. In the debate that we may have about Ukraine before the end of the year, I wonder whether we could focus on the role of OFSI and determine whether it is adequate, and whether it has the resources to properly deal with the scale and importance of the UK sanctions regime.

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[Sir Alan Campbell]

Yes, I do agree. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that everyone has access to the care and support they need, and we recognise that demand for such support has grown nationally, which is one of the reasons why we have invested over £1 billion in special educational needs and disabilities to create a system that supports every child. However, as the House will know, we intend to take this matter forward with a consultation and ultimately legislation. The ADHD taskforce published its final report last week, and I will ensure that the House is updated on the Government response.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the acting Chair of the Backbench Business Committee.

[Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)]

The Chairman sends his apologies for his absence today. When we met on Tuesday, the Committee again had great difficulty in allocating time to the many applications that we are receiving. I make the usual plea to the Leader of the House for as much time as possible so that we can accommodate all the various applications. I welcome his acknowledgment of the need for an early debate on Ukraine, which came before the Committee on Tuesday via an application from my hon. Friend the Member for Harwich and North Essex (Sir Bernard Jenkin).

In addition to the debates that the Leader of the House has announced in the Chamber next week, in Westminster Hall there will be a debate on Tuesday 18 November on the 80th anniversary of UNESCO, and debates on Thursday 20 November on inequalities faced by unpaid carers and World COPD—chronic obstructive lung disease—Day. I urge Members who want debates to coincide with specific events to apply early, because we are now looking to allocate time for debates in February and March.

Turning to my own question to the Leader of the House, yesterday—I am sure along with many other Members—I attended the drop-in session organised by Samaritans and the Centre for Countering Digital Hate. I was shown the template letters produced by AI that, in effect, encourage particularly young and vulnerable people to consider suicide, which is an appalling state of affairs. I recognise that Ministers are looking at all aspects of the digital world and so on, but I am sure the whole House agrees that we must take urgent action to combat this. I hope the Leader of the House will arrange a statement by a Minister on how the Government intend approaching it.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. To help the House, I am going to run business questions until 11.45 am, as we have a lot of business today. If we can speed up the questions and answers, I hope we will get nearly everybody in. I call Baggy Shanker to give the best example.

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

ASG’s 100-strong Derby workforce show exactly why we are a proud city of makers, but the Jaguar Land Rover cyber-attack has left them on a cliff edge with no certainty of work. Does my right hon. Friend recognise the vital importance of companies such as ASG across the supply chain, and does he agree that we must do as much as we can to help prevent such cyber-attacks?

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[John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)]

May I thank the Leader of the House for what he said about reforms to the driving test booking system? I add to what my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith) said about DEFRA questions. I wanted to raise the case of Susan Robinson and Maria La Femina, who asked me about sludge use in agriculture and what had happened with the regulations, but for the second or third DEFRA questions, I was not able to get in. It really would be worth considering whether we can extend DEFRA questions to the full hour, so that all colleagues would have the opportunity to keep trying to catch Mr Speaker’s eye.

[Mr Speaker]

I think it is important, and it might also help if Front-Bench Members asked quicker questions and gave quicker answers—not on this one, though.

[Sir Alan Campbell]

I have nothing to add to what I said earlier about the timing and length of questions, but the right hon. Gentleman has raised that concern. If he gives me further details, I will draw the matter to the attention of Ministers now, rather than wait for change.

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[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

I declare an interest: an employee of mine works for the company that I am about to mention, although they have not been affected by the action taken.

That company is video game publisher Rockstar Games, which has fired at least 30 employees across its UK studios, including Rockstar North in Edinburgh. Several of my constituents have been directly affected, and some came to express their concerns to me last week. They claim that they have been sacked because they were trying to unionise and discuss working conditions in private. Rockstar accused them of distributing confidential information and sacked them for gross misconduct. I have written to Rockstar to ask for information on this matter, but I wonder whether I might have a meeting with the relevant Minister to discuss what steps can be taken to support the workforce, and to ask what action the Government are taking—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Please. Does the hon. Member want to prevent other Members from getting in, because that is what she is doing? These questions finish at 11.45 am. I think the Leader of the House must have got a grip of the question.

[Sir Alan Campbell]

The sector that the hon. Lady talks about is important to the growth of the economy, but so too are rights at work. Successful companies are those that give decent rights and conditions to the people they employ. I will raise this matter with Ministers and see what action, if any, can be taken to resolve it.

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[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. For those Members who did not get in, we will keep the list for next week.