Debate on the Address
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Cheryl Gillan(5 years, 1 month ago)
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Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Lindsay Hoyle)
Order. I do believe that the previous incumbent of the Chair suggested 15 minutes.
Dame Cheryl Gillan
Thank you so much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I have taken rather a lot of interventions.
Dame Cheryl Gillan
In a similar vein, I would like to see regulation and transparency enhanced around companies such as 38 Degrees, which insert themselves between MPs and their constituents, gather data and raise funds for lobbying outwith the rules that govern political parties and yet, in effect, they are acting as an adjunct to political movements with no oversight or accountability.
There are many things to welcome in this Queen’s Speech, particularly on the law and order front. We need to halt this tide of knife crime and the scourge of county lines, both of which have affected my constituency, and we must give our police forces the resources to provide the safety and security that our citizens need to lead peaceful and successful lives.
I should like to finish by mentioning one provision that has delighted me—I am delighted that it has come to prominence—and that is the ambitious national space plan. My husband, Jack Leeming, during his lifelong career as a civil servant, was finally appointed director general of the British National Space Centre, then attached to the Department for Trade and Industry. He had a vision for the role of space in telecommunications, earth observation and remote sensing and was a huge supporter of our space industries and scientific endeavours. He was passionate about the possibilities of space, and my only sadness is that he died earlier this year and did not live to see a Conservative Prime Minister appreciating the opportunities that this sector affords.
This Prime Minister now has many, many challenges. There is no doubt that there is an overwhelming desire to get Brexit done and to reduce the bandwidth that is occupying Government, which, in turn, is impeding the progress that we can make on things that matter to people and have now been covered in the Gracious Speech—health, education, local government and new opportunities for our service and manufacturing industries. I hope that by the end of the week we will have not just a pathway to delivering our exit from the EU, but a firm grip on the destination.
Petitions
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Cheryl Gillan
Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Lindsay Hoyle)
I can help with that: no, in both cases. As there is more than half an hour for the debate, it is open for other Members to speak—obviously as long as their speech is relevant.
Dame Cheryl Gillan
On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Mine is an entirely separate point of order. It is based on rumour and press comment recently. It will not have escaped your notice, Mr Deputy Speaker, that, over the past 10 years, on many occasions in this Chamber, I have had the privilege of raising points about HS2, which is a railway project that goes through the middle of my constituency. Over the period of 10 years, I have been saying that the cost of this project will rise dramatically. The press has reported that Mr Cook, the acting chairman, has possibly written to the permanent secretary in the Department for Transport to raise the £30 billion—[Interruption.]
Mr Deputy Speaker
No, no, you cannot—I am on my feet. First, I understand that the Minister is now here, and we can carry on. There is no need to make spurious points of order. I am well aware of HS2. As you well know, as a member of the Panel of Chairs, points of order are meant to be short and succinct. I think that we can both agree that that was not. I think we have finished.
Autism
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Cheryl Gillan(6 years, 8 months ago)
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Dame Cheryl Gillan
My hon. Friend gives me a good opportunity to say to all those people who email me and contact me on social media that I cannot deal with all the questions and issues that come into my inbox, but I encourage those people to contact their MPs directly, because it is their own MPs who can help them—
Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Lindsay Hoyle)
Order. This is a very important debate. I put a seven-minute limit on speeches to try to give everybody a chance to speak. Given the interventions, I will have to drop the limit for Members lower down the list. I do not think it is fair. Interventions have to be short, and Members should think about whether they need to intervene—especially when they are summing up at the end.
The Rohingya and the Myanmar Government
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Cheryl Gillan(7 years, 1 month ago)
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Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)
I congratulate the hon. Lady on her speech, with which everybody in the House will agree. I hope she will be encouraged by a statement put out at last week’s plenary session of the Council of Europe by the Political Affairs Committee, of which I am a member, condemning the action and calling on all 47 Council of Europe member states to help with the humanitarian relief effort and to support Burma and Bangladesh. It shows that concern goes much wider than this House and that there is a huge international effort going on.
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)
I remind the House that we need short interventions if everyone is to have a fair chance to speak in this important debate.