Business of the House

Debate between Lucy Powell and Jeremy Corbyn

Thursday 13th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The warm homes scheme and the other measures that the Government are introducing are vital to reducing our demand for energy, as well as reducing people’s bills.

My hon. Friend raises an important point, and there is always a balance to be struck between keeping people’s homes warm and their bills down, while retaining heritage and other matters. He is right to raise this point, and I will ensure that he gets a full response.

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Ind)]

I strongly support the request of the hon. Member for Brent West (Barry Gardiner) for a statement on Thames Water. This company pays out its huge profits to shareholders and executives, presides over leaks across the region and pollutes our seas and rivers. To me, it is an example of the disaster of privatising the water industry.

We need a clear statement from the Government that, instead of regulation, they will return Thames Water to public ownership so that the people of London and the whole region can enjoy clean water, and so that our seas will no longer be polluted.

[Lucy Powell]

The right hon. Gentleman is right that there have been severe problems, which have let everybody down. The problems, which stem from severe failures in the governance and regulation that underpin the water sector, are completely unacceptable. We passed the Water (Special Measures) Bill, which will shortly receive Royal Assent, to stop these erroneous bonuses being paid for poor performance. We will soon be introducing wider water reform, and the measures are currently under review. I will ensure that the House is updated and that the right hon. Gentleman’s opinions are included.

Modernisation Committee

Debate between Lucy Powell and Jeremy Corbyn

Monday 9th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I am grateful to the Leader of the House for what she has said about inclusion. That is welcome of course, but it seems to me that an even better form of inclusion of the views of all parties in the House would be through membership of the Committee so that they are at every meeting, rather than dependent on the generosity or largesse of the Committee as a whole to invite them to give evidence.

[Lucy Powell]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman again for that, but this is a balance. The membership make-up of the Committee reflects that of all Select Committees of this House, and to achieve a proportion where one place would be available for a smaller party would mean a very big Committee indeed—even then, only one smaller party would be represented and not all. My approach will be to make sure that the smaller parties are regularly invited into the Committee, are regularly engaged and are regularly asked for their thoughts ahead of and during inquiries. That is a more meaningful way to collate all the views of the different parties and groupings in this place, given how the membership of the Committee has to come about.

Business of the House

Debate between Lucy Powell and Jeremy Corbyn

Thursday 25th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

Can I congratulate my hon. Friend on her re-election? I am sure that her new constituents will be as delighted as her old ones were with how assiduous a constituency MP she is. The topic that she raises would make for a good Adjournment debate or Westminster Hall debate, and I wish her the best in getting that through the draw.

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Ind)]

Could I congratulate the Leader of the House on her new position? Could she ensure that a statement is brought forward on the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice decisions relating to Israel and Gaza, and on whether the UK Government will withdraw their objections to any rulings they have made so that they can go ahead and be part of international law? The Prime Minister has said that the current UK Government are fully signed up to all aspects of international law and, of course, the European convention on human rights.

[Lucy Powell]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question. He is absolutely right. The Government are completely clear that our commitment to international law is resolute, and we are following the necessary processes in that regard. The Foreign Secretary has made it clear that he is undertaking a comprehensive review of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law. He has also made it clear that he will update the House as soon as that process is complete. I hope that that will be soon.