Business of the House

Mark Durkan Excerpts

Tuesday 18th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

There is no statutory provision for the cancellation of a by-election when a general election is in progress. It is up to the judgment of the acting returning officer, whom one might expect to regard the by-election writ as having been superseded. That was the course of action taken by the acting returning officer in the one precedent that I have found, which dates back to November 1923.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

Will the Leader of the House tells us whether the Prime Minister took soundings from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland as to the impact of this announcement on the ongoing inter-party talks, and does the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland still intend to bring legislation through this House and the House of Lords in the wash-up in respect of rates and topping up the mandate for the current Assembly to appoint an Executive?

[Mr Lidington]

My right hon. Friend the Northern Ireland Secretary is of course considering what difference, if any, should be made to his announced plans as a result of the Prime Minister’s announcement this morning. I will try to provide the hon. Gentleman with absolute clarity as soon as possible, but my expectation is that there will continue to be a need for such legislation.

Business of the House

Mark Durkan Excerpts

Thursday 30th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

I can promise the hon. Lady that there will be numerous opportunities, particularly in the forthcoming parliamentary Session, to debate every aspect of our departure from the European Union.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

If the cross-party talks in Northern Ireland are to inform the legislation that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland introduces in late April, will the Leader of the House assure us that business constraints in this House will not be used as an excuse for saying that that legislation and those talks should not address serious issues such as how the First and Deputy First Ministers are jointly elected and the petitions of concern?

[Mr Lidington]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said in his statement earlier this week that he might need to bring forward legislation, not least to address the possibility of there not being funding for essential public services in Northern Ireland. It would be wrong for me to speculate about the exact nature of legislation that might conceivably be brought forward. We still hope that that proves not to be necessary, and the Secretary of State continues to work tirelessly with the political parties to try to secure the restoration of devolved government.

Business of the House

Mark Durkan Excerpts

Thursday 9th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

My hon. Friend nods—that is an even better sign. Perhaps another year he will join my hon. Friends the Members for Weaver Vale (Graham Evans) and for Crewe and Nantwich (Edward Timpson), who will take part in this year’s London marathon. We wish them well.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

Will the Leader of the House tell us about the role and locus of his office in the preparation and passage of the great repeal Bill? Given that that office steered English votes for English laws, what assurance can he give us that that Bill will not be a vehicle for English votes over devolved competences?

[Mr Lidington]

My office will be involved, and I will be involved in the Cabinet Committee that reviews that legislation before its introduction in the same way as we review all legislation. I assure the hon. Gentleman that the impact of the whole Brexit process on devolved competences is one of the key issues we are considering. Many EU-level competences cut across devolved matters, although they also include some reserved matters—fisheries is one example—so we will continue to engage very closely with all three devolved Administrations to ensure that we get the right outcome and that there is no question at any stage of taking away powers that have been devolved under the three devolution Acts.

Business of the House

Mark Durkan Excerpts

Thursday 9th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

The hon. Gentleman may want to seek an Adjournment debate, but the EHRC rightly operates at arm’s length from Ministers and has to make its own decisions about how to live within its means, just like every other public authority,

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

May we have a debate in Government time to allow the House to reflect on the full import of what the Supreme Court said about the Sewel convention, so that important questions about its future application and adherence to it are not just left to contend with the other frictions and fictions of the great repeal Bill?

[Mr Lidington]

There will be questions to the Secretary of State for Scotland on Wednesday 1 March, at which there will be opportunities for that matter to be raised. I am absolutely certain that there will be ample opportunity for all such questions to be debated when we get to the EU repeal Bill after the Queen’s Speech.

Business of the House

Mark Durkan Excerpts

Thursday 19th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

I accept that we have confirmed a settlement for local councils that is flat in cash terms, but we have also delivered what local authorities were asking for in certainty over a four-year funding period. We are planning legislation, which will be before Parliament soon, that will enable local government to keep all the business rates that it collects by the end of the Parliament. We have provided the power for local councils to levy a social care precept to help them with the challenges that they undoubtedly face in dealing with social care.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

The terms of your earlier statement, Mr Speaker, mean that “happy birthday” is not a mere wish but an observation of fact. In passing, may I mention yesterday’s landmark 80th birthday of landmark statesman, John Hume, the pathfinder for our peace process?

Will the Leader of the House talk to Northern Ireland Office and Treasury Ministers to clarify that there is legitimate locus for the House, its Ministers and Committees in the renewable heat incentive debacle in Northern Ireland? There is no basis for pretending that the dimensions of abuse in the uptake of that scheme are confined to devolved expenditure and do not involve the annually managed expenditure from the Treasury. There is also a question about a period when the regulations for the scheme had run out, spending continued and it was not covered by the Northern Ireland budget. Did Treasury funding cover it in the period when there was no regulatory basis for that spending?

[Mr Lidington]

First, I join the hon. Gentleman in sending belated birthday wishes to John Hume. We all salute the heroic role that he played in helping to start and drive through the peace process in Northern Ireland.

On the renewable heat incentive scheme, the Northern Ireland scheme is fully devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive and is now the subject of an open inquiry by the Northern Ireland Public Accounts Committee. It is therefore in their remit to investigate it. The scheme in Great Britain has budget management mechanisms in place to stop the sort of overspending that was experienced in Northern Ireland. If the hon. Gentleman has evidence that Treasury money was in some way involved in supporting the Northern Ireland scheme and that money was misplaced, I urge him to write with the details to Treasury Ministers and I am sure that they will respond.

Business of the House

Mark Durkan Excerpts

Thursday 17th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

The Government not only set expected standards for replies to parliamentary questions, but publish regular bulletins showing how each Department has performed against those standards. I am concerned by what the hon. Gentleman says and I shall make sure that it is chased up today with the Department concerned.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

Earlier, the Leader of the House waxed positive about the Government’s commitments to city deals and regional growth deals. May we have a debate in this House on the range and reach of such deals across the UK, including the very positive developments and prospects in Scotland and Wales? That might help to illuminate the resistance and negligence on the part of the Northern Ireland Executive in failing to take up what previous Whitehall Ministers have said would be their readiness to support deals—if they get proposals—including cross-border deals.

[Mr Lidington]

It may well be that either a long debate in Westminster Hall or a Backbench Business Committee debate would provide the opportunity for the kind of exchange of best practice that the hon. Gentleman wants, so that Members from different parts of the UK can all share their relevant experiences. Clearly the Northern Ireland Act 1998 devolves important powers to the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly, and it must be for the authorities in Northern Ireland primarily to decide how to take this policy further.

Business of the House

Mark Durkan Excerpts

1st reading: House of Commons
Thursday 13th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

My own view is that early-day motions are an overrated currency. I was somewhat surprised to see reports this morning that Scottish National party Members have been spending so much time tabling early-day motions, and on subjects ranging from Christmas trees to the anniversary of the first screening of “Star Trek”. They need to be a little careful, because a number of us are coming to the conclusion that they do not have enough work to do, and I think their constituents would be somewhat shocked to find that out.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

I welcome the shadow Leader of the House to her post and acknowledge her reference to the peace in Colombia and the forthcoming visit by President Santos. In that context, will the Leader of the House ensure that he and his colleagues, who have in very valid terms ruled out a second referendum here, do not mistranslate that message, given the particular challenges in Colombia, because a second referendum might well be what they need following the national dialogue and other negotiations now in train?

[Mr Lidington]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have, for a long time and under successive British Governments, supported the efforts to try to bring about an end to the appalling conflict in Colombia. We welcome the courageous work President Santos has done to try to reach that agreement, and British Ministers are certainly not going to, in any way, seek to tell the President of Colombia how he should proceed in setting the final seal on an agreement that we all hope will endure.

Business of the House

Mark Durkan Excerpts

Thursday 21st July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue for those of us who are concerned about animal welfare. In his reference to how people sometimes leave pet dogs in cars in hot weather, he alighted on the fact that often for such issues it is not a matter of a need for new legislation, but a matter of people recognising that they have a responsibility to care for the animals they own. If a debate enables my hon. Friend to highlight that, I can see the benefit of such a debate taking place. I would direct him towards either the Adjournment debate process or the Backbench Business Committee, where he might find those opportunities.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

I congratulate the Leader of the House, and may I congratulate him on winning next year’s prize for the most reduced carbon footprint? May I also join in the tributes to Noeleen Delaney who, like all the staff in the House, serves us with dedication and discretion. She is ready with consideration and chat, but—typical of Donegal decency—never gossip.

Will the Leader commission a study of how many amendments and groups of amendments this Chamber discharges without any debate whatever, leaving it to the unelected fur-ocrats up the building here to get the enhanced reputation as the revising Chamber and the key amending Chamber? In this age of taking back control, can this Chamber take more control of the legislation that passes through Parliament?

[Mr Lidington]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his words of welcome. He raises an important point. Ministers have a responsibility to ensure that Bills brought to the House are technically sound, that the policy has been properly worked out and that there is no ambiguity about the intention of particular clauses. The House collectively then has a responsibility, through the programming process, to ensure that Bills are properly debated and that we do not waste time simply scoring party political points, particularly in Committee and on Report. It then has a responsibility to allocate time fairly so that all aspects of the Bill can be properly considered. There are lessons for the Government but also for the House collectively on how we might do our job better.

Business of the House

Mark Durkan Excerpts

Thursday 30th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

We also had a debate yesterday about this important matter. We will make sure that there plenty of such opportunities, and more to the point, that we consult extensively. It is really important that we get this right, and yes, that we listen to industries, such as the ceramics industry, so that we can understand how best to look after their interests in the negotiations that lie ahead. I give the House an absolute assurance that every member of the Government and, indeed, the many people outside Government whom we will want to take part in this process will work absolutely assiduously to make sure we do the right thing for Britain.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

I note the Leader of the House’s inadvertent honesty in telling the Chamber that we now have “carry-on Government”. He is obviously proud of his role in the referendum and he is also proud of his role in giving us English votes for English laws, but can he marry those two with English votes for English exits?

[Chris Grayling]

I know that the hon. Gentleman takes such a view. My view is very straightforward: we are one United Kingdom, we remain one United Kingdom and, given the opportunities in the world, we must absolutely plan our future as one United Kingdom. As we forge new trade deals around the world and businesses take advantage of new opportunities with the countries now telling us that when we leave the European Union they will want to forge new trade ties with us, I have to say that I would be deeply saddened and would hate it if any part of our current United Kingdom lost out on those opportunities.

Business of the House

Mark Durkan Excerpts

Wednesday 8th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

It will be a standard 90-minute statutory instrument debate, as is customary for secondary legislation.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

The extension of registration will not apply to Northern Ireland, so will the measure be subject to certification under English votes for English laws?

[Chris Grayling]

I can inform the House that the drafting of the SI for tomorrow’s debate will include Northern Ireland.