Business of the House
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Wendy Chamberlain(6 days, 5 hours ago)
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Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)
I start by wishing my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Bobby Dean) all the best for his parental leave. Sadly, and particularly for his wife, I have no news to update the House with, but I hope to be able to do so in due course.
I draw the House’s attention to the devastating civil war in Sudan, which sadly entered its fourth year yesterday. This is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with over 29 million Sudanese facing acute food insecurity. Earlier in the parliamentary Session, the Prime Minister said in response to a question on Sudan from the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey), that he does
“not think we discuss it enough in this House.”—[Official Report, 30 October 2024; Vol. 755, c. 806.]
Will the Leader of the House act in the spirit of those words and ask the Foreign Secretary to give a statement on the conflict next week and include an update to the House on her discussions at this week’s Berlin conference?
We continue to reel from the news emerging from the Oval Office. I must confess that I did not have the President of the United States labelling the Pope as “weak on crime” on my 2026 bingo card, but given recent events, perhaps I should have done. His latest AI image released last night of him embracing Jesus Christ reminded me of the immortal words of Brenda from Bristol in April 2017: “Not another one!” In all seriousness, Trump’s chaos is having real impacts here in the UK and in my own constituency of North East Fife. His reckless war in the middle east is hitting families up and down the country in the pocket and at the fuel pumps. Will the Leader of the House schedule a debate in Government time on the economic impact of Trump’s war and include a consideration of Liberal Democrat proposals for a 10p fuel duty cut? Other countries are providing that certainty on fuel duty now. Is it not time that the Government did likewise?
Speaker’s Statement
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Wendy Chamberlain(11 months, 1 week ago)
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Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)
Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I have to admit to shedding a tear last night when I heard the news of Sir Roy’s passing. Within nine months of joining the House in 2019, I became the Chief Whip of a small group of 11, and he treated me and my party with the utmost respect. He was the first person to refer to me as “chief”—sadly, my family have not picked up that term—which showed the respect he had for the House, MPs and the parties they represent.
I valued his counsel. We sometimes take the daily business for granted, but it is testament to the work of the usual channels and the Government Whips Office that we end up with the business and debates we have in this place.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) is sitting with me. When Sir Roy left his role and the House in 2021, we took him for dinner at the Liberal Club. I will just say that the club’s standards of service were exactly what my right hon. Friend and I expected them to be; I will say no more on that.
Sir Roy was the epitome of the best of the civil service. We had good conversations, but it is fair to say that no confidences were betrayed. I am very saddened to hear of his loss. My thoughts and my party’s thoughts are with his family.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Wendy Chamberlain(1 year, 1 month ago)
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Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Wendy Chamberlain(1 year, 8 months ago)
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Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)
I welcome the Secretary of State and his team to their place, and I associate myself with the remarks of the hon. Member for Belfast South and Mid Down (Claire Hanna). I can only hope that the success of the hurling at the weekend means that the BBC will consider showing the shinty-hurling international that takes place every year.
I welcome attempts by the new Government to continue to rebuild trust with Northern Ireland political parties and to improve relations with the European Union, which offers the opportunity to reduce trade frictions between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Could the Secretary of State set out what he is doing with ministerial colleagues and other Departments to open the door to securing a veterinary agreement with the EU, which will further reduce those barriers to trade?