South West Water: Brixham Contamination

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Lloyd Russell-Moyle

Monday 20th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown) (Lab/Co-op)]

In 2022, the Drinking Water Inspectorate found South West Water guilty, saying that the company

“did not follow best practice”

to avoid and shorten events where customers report problems about the taste and quality of their drinking water. It was fined a quarter of a million pounds. It was found guilty the year after for a six-year period of illegal discharges of sewage. The CEO awarded themselves almost £2 million in bonuses and awarded £112 million in dividends. Is it not time that all bonuses, all dividends and all bill rises are suspended until our water companies sort themselves out? If they do not, they need special administration.

[Mr Speaker]

May I remind Members that when they are asking a question or speaking, they are meant to look at the Chair, not at somebody down at the bottom of the Chamber, because we might be unable to hear what is being said?

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle]

It is because of the good work of the hon. Member for Totnes (Anthony Mangnall) that I was able to ask that question.

[Mr Speaker]

In the end, the good work of the hon. Member for Totnes was only allowed by the Chair—think that way first!

Points of Order

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Lloyd Russell-Moyle

Wednesday 18th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Thank you for making me aware of that. I would have automatically assumed that the Library of the House of Commons would keep reports. “If not, why not?” would be my question to the Library, and I hope that it can review that. I am disappointed that the right hon. Member was not able to get hold of those papers; I am sure that that will be rectified very quickly, following his point of order.

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown) (Lab/Co-op)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I wanted to notify the House at the earliest opportunity that I have written to the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates) to acknowledge that the tone of my remarks in the Chamber yesterday was a mistake. I stand by the words that I said, and I profoundly disagree with the comments that the hon. Member made, but our job as MPs is to channel passion and anger into considered debate to win our arguments—in this case, on the trans community and devolution. I recognise that I failed to control that passion during what was an emotional debate. I should have expressed my deep disagreement on what I believe is an abhorrent view in a more appropriate way. I want to particularly apologise to Madam Deputy Speaker, who had to preside over the debate.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving notice that he wished to come and make that point of order. It allows me to take this opportunity to remind hon. Members of the importance of good temper and moderation in contributions from all sides and all Members. We will disagree, but how we express that disagreement is important. Please, let us have moderate and temperate language going forward.

Bill Presented

Local Electricity Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

David Johnston, supported by Peter Aldous, Hilary Benn, Sir Graham Brady, Alan Brown, Simon Fell, Wera Hobhouse, Ben Lake, Clive Lewis, Selaine Saxby, Mick Whitley and Sir Jeremy Wright, presented a Bill to enable electricity generators to become local electricity suppliers; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 24 March, and to be printed (Bill 231).

Easter Recess: Government Update

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Lloyd Russell-Moyle

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

rose—

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle]

—that got—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. No, I decide; I am sorry, you cannot take my job. You are the Back Bencher, I am in the Chair. We do not use the word “lie”. I explained that earlier and I stand by it, so I am sure you will withdraw it immediately.

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle]

The sentence is not about the Prime Minister, but I will withdraw it if you do not like that word, Mr Speaker.

Those were the things that got Jeffrey Archer, Fiona Onasanya and Chris Huhne kicked out of this place or forced to resign. Of course, I have no hope of the Prime Minister’s Front Benchers, who are tax-dodging, Russian-financed snowflakes, but I do have higher hopes for his Back Benchers, so how many Back Benchers should have their credibility destroyed in supporting the Prime Minister?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Let us try and see if we can keep it temperate and moderate. “There was no individual mentioned, so therefore it was within the rules”—that is not what I would expect, but that is where we are.

Points of Order

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Lloyd Russell-Moyle

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown) (Lab/Co-op)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I want to correct the record. Yesterday, I said that the Israeli Labor party and Meretz party—Labour’s two equal sister parties in Israel—had written to our current leadership in support of a boycott of goods and companies in the occupied territories. The letter, sent in July 2020, in fact came from the former Speaker of the Knesset, the former party chair, the former interim President of Israel, and other former and current MPs from the respective parties. Although that might be the view of the Meretz party—the larger of the two sister parties at the time—it has been expressed clearly to me that that was not the view of the Israeli Labor party, and it did not say that in the letter. I wish to correct that for the record clearly today.

[Mr Speaker]

I thank Lloyd Russell-Moyle for the correction.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Lloyd Russell-Moyle

Wednesday 26th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown) (Lab/Co-op)]

3. Happy unbirthday to him! Just like the Mad Hatter, the Prime Minister did not need the excuse of a birthday to have a party—but it did help, didn’t it? Given that he had groups of people singing to him when gatherings indoors were illegal and communal singing was banned, my constituents think that he has lied. My constituents think that he lied to this House and my constituents think he lied to them when he was partying and telling them all—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. You can say in passing what your constituents say, but you cannot continue to labour that one point.

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle]

So, I would prefer to be led by a lawyer than by a liar. Will the Prime Minister now resign?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Gentleman will be withdrawing that last comment.

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle]

I withdraw it. That is what my constituents think, not my view.

[Mr Speaker]

You are right to—we’ll have less of that.

Points of Order

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Lloyd Russell-Moyle

Wednesday 7th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown) (Lab/Co-op)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. On Monday, I suggested that you and your office had denied me a speaking slot in the debate we were discussing. I had of course put in the request late, and owing to the new rules that do not allow on-the-day requests, it was not down to your office’s discretion whether I could speak. I want to make sure that it is clear for the record that no slight on my part was meant towards you at all.

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the hon. Member for that.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Lloyd Russell-Moyle

Tuesday 23rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Lloyd Russell-Moyle.

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown) (Lab/Co-op)]

Thank you, Prime Minister. Sorry, thank you, Mr Speaker —it would perhaps be much better if you were Prime Minister. Let me thank the Prime Minister for a welcome statement. We have a plethora of small businesses in Brighton. I have just spoken to our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender businesses, along with Gscene, our LGBT magazine, and they, and, in particular, our bars and clubs, are keen to get open. However, they are worried at the moment that the furlough scheme, which will rightly be closing for new entrants this month and which will allow part-time working, will not allow people to come off furlough to see whether the business is viable and then be put back on it. Will he consider some flexibility, such as for a two-week trial, with people then able to be put back on furlough for the remainder of the scheme, so that businesses can test the water? Otherwise, many businesses say that they will just stay shut completely, which would be a real disappointment.

[The Prime Minister]

I hope that businesses will recognise that now is the moment to get going and to get their valued staff back working again, doing what they want to do and love doing. I have no doubt that all the bars in Brighton have every reason to be confident, provided that we do this in a sensible way. I think everybody in the House understands the balance of what we are trying to do today and can join together in expressing that balance to the public.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Lloyd Russell-Moyle

Tuesday 19th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Before I bring in the shadow Minister, may I just ask Ministers to speed up the answers? We have to get through some more Members.

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is my first time appearing opposite the Minister; hopefully we will have many fruitful discussions.

There is growing evidence that deaths due to covid are higher in areas of bad air quality, but lockdown means that right now we are breathing the cleanest air that we have had in generations. We need to do all we can to ensure that many of the survivors of covid, who will have weakened lungs, are protected. Air pollution currently kills 40,000 people each year, with 40 of our towns breaking the World Health Organisation limit. The Government and the Minister dismissed putting targets in the Environment Bill, but surely covid has changed all that. Will the Minister sit down with us and agree a form of wording that will require Ministers to set targets on air quality in order to reach the WHO standard by 2030 and help save British lives?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Lloyd Russell-Moyle

Tuesday 4th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Philip Dunne—not here.

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown) (Lab/Co-op)]

During the recent NATO summit, there was a concerted effort by President Erdoğan of Turkey to block progress unless fellow NATO members agreed to label our Kurdish heroes in northern Syria as terrorists. After my last visit to Syria, the Secretary of State dismissed me and my concerns to try and reach out on that point. So maybe, if he refused to take advice from me and other members of the Opposition—and his two colleagues who came with me on that trip—he might take a lead from the Belgian court case that said that the Kurds were not a terrorist force; or the French, who objected publicly at the NATO council, as did Poland, the Baltic states, and even Donald Trump. I ask the Foreign Secretary: why did our own Prime Minister say nothing to defend the British interest and our Kurdish allies?