Draft Aviation Security (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Debate between Michael Fabricant and Barry Sheerman

Thursday 28th February 2019 General Committees

[Mr Sheerman]

I will make only some brief remarks. This piece of delegated legislation—this statutory instrument—worries me a great deal because we are talking about the most sensitive area of security. We have only to look back at the ghastly tragedy of the twin towers in the United States to know what can happen. On a much more mundane level, we still do not know who flew drones over Gatwick Airport, destroying the holidays of many of our constituents. Perhaps it does not matter if one lives in Lichfield or if drones ruin someone’s holiday.

[Michael Fabricant]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Mr Sheerman]

I will not give way to the hon. Gentleman. He is the one who pits the bogeyperson of Europe against a security system that has secured the safety and security of his constituents as well as mine and yours, Sir Edward, for many years. [Interruption.] I will give way.

[Michael Fabricant]

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s courtesy in giving way, given that he mentioned Lichfield. Many people from Lichfield travel abroad, probably more than in his constituency. I remind him that since the situation with the drones, the Department for Transport has deployed technology from the UK and Israel to identify drones, so action has been taken, and none of it had anything to do with the EU.

Draft Operation of Air Services (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

Debate between Michael Fabricant and Barry Sheerman

Monday 19th November 2018 General Committees

[Mr Sheerman]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Christopher. My remarks will be brief, and I have been lucky to make so many interventions.

I am deeply worried about the whole process, and not only because I have spent many years involved in air safety. I know quite a lot about the industry and I have very good communications with it. The industry does not think that there will be—to quote the Minister—no impact on existing services. The industry thinks there will be a great deal of impact on existing services. It does not know precisely what because we are in limbo. Nobody knows what the Government are going to do, who the Prime Minister might be or what the Leader of the Opposition or the Opposition think about the current situation. In a sense, we are gambolling though at a fast rate.

I am a great admirer of the Minister’s style and intellect, but he is rushing this measure through with not one word from Back Benchers. Our job is to scrutinise legislation. That is at the very core of what a Member of Parliament should do. I am not sure that I know that people will be safe flying after we leave the European Union. I am not sure that we have the right relationships for investigating the standards and how we operate. I have not had any affirmation that there has been serious communication with the Irish Government. In aviation, we are closely entangled with the Irish and also the United States. Our biggest traffic is across the Atlantic to North and South America. Have there been discussions? As someone who is long versed in aviation safety, I do not believe that the process of scrutiny is good enough.

[Michael Fabricant]

If the hon. Gentleman does not agree with the manner in which we are scrutinising, is that not more an issue for the Procedure Committee than for this Committee? It seems to me that he is complaining more about how we conduct SIs, rather than the actual meat of this piece of legislation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Fabricant and Barry Sheerman

Tuesday 1st May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

20. Jeremy Hicks will have told my hon. Friend that the problem is in part uncertainty over diesel engines, but my hon. Friend knows that JLR is particularly keen on developing electric cars. Will he comment on the £80 million Government investment in new battery technology?

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Get plugged in.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Fabricant and Barry Sheerman

Thursday 9th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Is it not a human right to have some certainty about the future? Is the Secretary of State not aware of how many talented, hard-working and entrepreneurial people who have come to this country have no idea whether they can stay here? The Government are now demanding that to be able to stay, people must have full health insurance for life.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

You look like Mussolini!

[Mr Sheerman]

At least I’ve got my own hair!