Lindsay Hoyle
Main Page: Lindsay Hoyle (Speaker - Chorley)Department Debates - View all Lindsay Hoyle's debates with the Leader of the House
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Jesse Norman (Hereford and South Herefordshire) (Con)
Top of the morning to you, Mr Speaker. 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 18 May will include:
Monday 18 May—Continuation of the debate on the King’s Speech, on backing business to create economic growth.
Tuesday 19 May—Continuation of the debate on the King’s Speech, on energy security.
Wednesday 20 May—Conclusion of the debate on the King’s Speech, on defence readiness.
Thursday 21 May—Second Reading of the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill.
The House will rise for the Whitsun recess at the conclusion of business on Thursday 21 May and return on Monday 1 June.
The provisional business for the week commencing 1 June will include:
Monday 1 June—Second Reading of the Health Bill.
Tuesday 2 June—Committee of the whole House on the Armed Forces Bill.
Sir Alan Campbell
I absolutely join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to Bradford City for keeping the memory of the 1985 disaster alive. Some of us remember that day and will never forget. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the friends and families of those who lost their lives on that tragic day. As she rightly points out, football and sports more widely bring communities together and can be a force for good. I hope we will see that in the coming months, not least when the world cup kicks off.
Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)
May I start by associating myself with the remarks of the Leader of the House in relation to Brighton and the elections? It is not easy to stand for elected office, particularly if you are not successful, and it does take a toll, so I thank him for those remarks.
I also thank the Leader of the House for providing us with the first set of business for the new Session, but I have to note that at the beginning of the previous Session the new Government made a virtue of the fact that they would be putting an end to the incessant chaos of the Conservatives, yet we find ourselves again with a Prime Minister who appears to have lost all authority. We all know that changing Prime Minister over and over again is deeply damaging for our economy and our place on the world stage. I heard us described in recent days as, “Italy without the cuisine.”
When we look at the content of the King’s Speech, we see the reason why this Prime Minister has run out of road, despite having such a large majority: there is no real change offered by this Government’s policy agenda, just a tinkering around the edges. There is an EU reset Bill that offers no reset and no attempt to boost growth by moving beyond the Government’s red lines. There are no measures to boost national security by introducing a programme of defence bonds, and there is nothing to fix the crisis in social care that plagues so many of our constituents.
Will the Leader of the House schedule a debate in Government time on how to stop this continued chaos of successive Conservative and Labour Governments? Perhaps some of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet colleagues might want to come along and make contributions. After last week’s results, one of the solutions that should be discussed in that debate is the need to move to a system of proportional representation for general elections, as well as for local government elections in England. That need has never been greater. We Liberal Democrats will always support calls for making every vote count, and that is despite results in Richmond upon Thames and some of the Scottish constituencies—including my own, I have to say—that would make Kim Jong Un blush. Will the Leader of the House speak to the Prime Minister and try to persuade him that if he wants to leave some form of legacy that he can be proud of, he should make time for a Bill on fair votes?
Sir Roger Gale
I would not wish that on him.
Given the Labour party’s manifesto commitments, some of us had rather hoped we might find in the King’s Speech a Bill to ban the proceeds of trophy hunting, something to do with hare coursing or improving farm animal welfare. The sad fact is that there was no such mention of any animal welfare issue whatsoever in the King’s Speech, and I would be grateful if the right hon. Gentleman addressed that.
While I am on my feet, could I also say that, with the hospitality industry on its knees, now is not the moment to introduce a tourism tax?
Mr Speaker
Order. I would just say that a good old stager knows how to take advantage, but questions should cover one area, not two at the same time.
Sir Alan Campbell
I am sincerely grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his comments. I do think it is important that we uphold standards wherever we can. As for his reference to not wishing the ultimate job on me, I suspect he has been talking to my wife in that regard, and I can assure him that it is clearly not going to happen, because apart from anything else there is no vacancy.
On the issues the right hon. Gentleman raises, I think we made a good start on animal welfare in the first Session, and there will be further Sessions in which we can bring forward such measures. Depending on the progress made in this second Session, there is also the possibility that other legislation will be brought forward. I am not promising him anything, but there is some flexibility there. There are also other routes that Members can take, not least private Members’ Bills, to address some of the important matters he raises.
Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)
On Thursday, the Welsh dragon roared. Before I go on to say who roared on Sunday, I want to thank Eluned Morgan, the previous First Minister of Wales, for her 30 years of unstinting public service to the people of Wales.
On Sunday, the Drovers roared. Llandovery RFC won the Super Rygbi Cymru cup for the third time. Our small rural Carmarthenshire town has produced phenomenal rugby players for Wales. They have won the Welsh premiership twice, the Welsh cup three times, and the national sevens championship five times in a row. The captain of Sunday’s match, Lee Rees, was playing his 402nd match for Llandovery over an 18-season term, which is a phenomenal achievement. Coaches Euros Evans and Gareth Potter have been at the helm for 13 or 14 years—
Mr Speaker
Order. There has got to be a question. This is a lovely statement about how well the team did, but I think the game is over. Come on, give me a question.
Ann Davies
Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Llandovery rugby club on its success?