Points of Order

Debate between Marcus Jones and John Bercow

Wednesday 28th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. On Monday the Leader of the Opposition and the shadow Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham), visited my constituency. I thank the shadow Secretary of State for Health for having the courtesy to inform my office about his visit, in line with parliamentary protocol. However, this is far from the position that the Leader of the Opposition seems to take, as it is his second visit to Nuneaton in this Parliament. On both occasions he has failed to notify the sitting Member of Parliament of his visit. Given the social media response to the Leader of the Opposition’s visit, I would welcome him to my constituency as many times as he can get there between now and 7 May, but—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. The nub of the matter is not to make some sort of political point. The nub of the matter is that he is complaining that the protocol has not been observed. If the protocol has not been observed, it should be. If it has been, well and good. That is the end of it.

NHS (Five Year Forward View)

Debate between Marcus Jones and John Bercow

Monday 1st December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Wow—what a choice! I call Mr Andrew Stephenson.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Marcus Jones and John Bercow

Monday 30th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Yes, the right hon. Gentleman might have been prescient. I am sure the hon. Member for Romford was told by the Department. If he was not, we are sorry. If he was, he should be here and we are sorry that he is not. No doubt further and better information will become available in due course.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

2. What steps he is taking to encourage development on brownfield land.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Marcus Jones and John Bercow

Monday 28th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We need short questions and short answers. Let us be led by Mr Marcus Jones.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

T3. Several constituents of mine who have made complaints against the police to the IPCC feel that it did not have the necessary teeth to act on their grievance. Notwithstanding my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary’s previous answer, will the Minister say what more can be done to deal with this situation?

Business of the House

Debate between Marcus Jones and John Bercow

Thursday 11th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Why is that no surprise?

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

Youth unemployment has fallen by 8.3% in my constituency in the last year. However, I am not being complacent and my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Dan Byles) and I are running a jobs fair in my constituency on 24 July. Will my right hon. Friend welcome that jobs fair? May we also have a debate on what the Government are doing to reduce youth unemployment and what individual Members are doing to help young people to get into work?

Point of Order

Debate between Marcus Jones and John Bercow

Monday 25th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The House will be saddened to hear of a serious underground fire at Daw Mill colliery in my constituency. Thankfully, there have been no deaths or serious injuries, but the fire, which is still blazing, is causing a great deal of uncertainty and worry to more than 600 people who work at the colliery. Notwithstanding the meetings I intend to have with Ministers, some of which will, I hope, take place later today, will you allow me to offer my support to the workers at Daw Mill and their families during this extremely difficult time?

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman has just done that most eloquently. I know that as an assiduous attendee in the Chamber he will be alive to the opportunities that the Order Paper presents for him to raise the matter on other suitable occasions. I thank him and extend my sympathies for and concern about the situation he has rightly described.

Employment Law (Beecroft Report)

Debate between Marcus Jones and John Bercow

Monday 21st May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is a growing phenomenon in the House whereby Members who were not standing at the start of a statement are suddenly motivated to pop up towards its conclusion—but I would not want the hon. Member for Nuneaton (Mr Jones) to be disappointed, so I think we had better hear him.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I recently attended a meeting with people who run small businesses in my constituency. Many of them said that they were keen to take on more employees, but were often put off by the additional red tape and regulation that had been imposed on them by the Labour party. Can my hon. Friend confirm that this Government will take account of the issues raised by my constituents, and will try to help them to create more employment in my constituency?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Marcus Jones and John Bercow

Monday 30th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Ian Lucas]

Answer! The Minister did not answer my question.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We must have order, however angry and irate is the hon. Member for Wrexham (Ian Lucas). He is shouting out that he has not had an answer to his question, but if that were to legitimise that sort of ranting, there were would have been permanent ranting in the House of Commons under successive Governments over the last 100 years. We cannot tolerate it.

[Mr Jones]

Excessive car parking charges are a tax on our town centres and high streets. Does my right hon. Friend believe that the implementation of free control parking schemes in many of our town centres would put us on a level playing field with out-of-town stores and therefore start to rejuvenate our town centres and high streets?

Future of Town Centres and High Streets

Debate between Marcus Jones and John Bercow

Tuesday 17th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Before the hon. Member for Nuneaton (Mr Jones) responds, let me say, first, that he has been speaking for 14 minutes. I am sure many Members have been greatly enjoying his speech, and I am sure the hon. Gentleman has been enjoying it, but there are nearly 50 Members who wish to speak and to whom a time limit applies, so I hope he is bringing his remarks to a conclusion. Secondly, the frequency with which he gives way is a matter for him, but he might want to bear that in mind. Thirdly, interventions are too long.

[Mr Jones]

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for that guidance. I will try to keep my remarks brief and to keep interventions to a minimum.

Starting new enterprise is crucial on our high streets, particularly with many of our chain stores retrenching. We need to reinvigorate our independent shopkeepers. Street markets and indoor markets are an important route to doing that. In my constituency we have an award-winning street market on Wednesdays and Saturdays which often has more than 150 stalls. As in the case of car parking, which I shall come to shortly, local authorities must be careful to make sure that markets are not just cash cows and income generators for the local authority, but are there for the benefit of the local community and the local town centre.

That brings me to ways of allowing businesses to flourish. Lower taxation and less regulation are the keys to unlocking that potential, although we should be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water. Through deregulation—for example, the deregulation of pedlars—we could end up with a situation where pedlars can turn up and trade alongside market traders, without paying any rent or rates. The market traders who have traditionally been on our high streets will find themselves at a disadvantage.

Car parking is a major issue. There is a case study in the Portas review that mentions Swindon, and my hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (Justin Tomlinson) will probably elaborate on that. Although I acknowledge the restraint on both Government and local government budgets, further direct action on car parking charges must be explored. It would be fantastic if a pilot scheme could be run to see whether we could bring in free short-stay parking that would have the effect that we are looking for. The pilot should be run in a constituency, and I would make the argument for that to be my Nuneaton constituency, but other right hon. and hon. Members probably have other ideas on that.

There is also an inherent unfairness in how the business rates regime applies to town centre car parks and out-of-town-centre car parks, and we need to look at that carefully to ensure that we allow our town centres to operate on a level playing field. As Mary Portas rightly pointed out, we need to look carefully at planning in our town centres. My hon. Friend the Member for Henley (John Howell) mentioned the national planning policy framework, and we must ensure that the “town centre first” policy and the sequential test are retained in the framework. I also think that it is important that office development is included, because although we must not deny out-of-town development, we must ensure that it is proportionate and meets the needs of a particular area.

I note your comments about time, Mr Speaker, and appreciate that many right hon. and hon. Members wish to speak. By bringing the matter before the House, I sincerely hope that we will have a positive debate, that our views will prevail and that the Minister will go away loaded with positive ideas from Back-Bench Members that can be fed into the Government’s review. I firmly believe that the British people instinctively wish to see our high streets and town centres not only survive, but flourish and prosper, as they form one of the unique components that make up the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Marcus Jones and John Bercow

Wednesday 22nd June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The House needs to simmer down and take whatever tablets are necessary.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

As a parent, I am appalled that the Labour party advocates burdening our children with ever more unsolicited debts, which it is putting forward with its reckless raft of unfunded tax cuts and spending commitments, of which the VAT cut is the latest—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Gentleman will now resume his seat. I call Valerie Vaz.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Marcus Jones and John Bercow

Thursday 17th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mr Douglas Carswell. He is not here.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

I met a number of Warwickshire dairy farmers last week and they told me that they are still receiving less for their milk from the supermarkets than it costs to produce. When the high cost of feed is added to that, it will either drive farmers away from producing milk or out of business altogether. What can the Secretary of State do to support our dairy farmers and protect UK food security?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Marcus Jones and John Bercow

Tuesday 8th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Wise owl is the kindest description that the hon. Gentleman has ever offered of me. I shall take it that he means it. It’s the best I’ll get.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

5. What recent progress he has made on the introduction of GP commissioning consortia.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Marcus Jones and John Bercow

Tuesday 16th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

David Tredinnick, not here.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

What steps can the Chancellor take to ensure that the Financial Services Authority’s mortgage market review proposals do not have a disproportionate effect on home buyers and the housing market, particularly at a time when we are trying to encourage growth through the private sector?