Points of Order
Debate between Nia Griffith and John Bercow
Mr Speaker
I am most grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order, and for her courtesy of giving me notice of it. I think I am right in saying that, by e-mail, she alerted the hon. Member for St Austell and Newquay (Steve Double) of her intention to raise this matter.
Let me say to the hon. Lady, and, indeed, to the House, that it is an important convention for Members to inform each other if they intend to make personally critical remarks—not expressions of disagreement appertaining to policy, but personally critical remarks—about colleagues in the Chamber. She has succeeded in putting her view of the matter clearly on the record, and if she is concerned that the original allegation will have been widely circulated, I know that she will now do her level best to ensure that what she regards as her correction of the record is equally widely circulated.
This was a proper use of a point of order, which in itself is a relative novelty—not from the hon. Lady, but from any Member of the House. I thank her for what she has said.
Mr Speaker
Well! There is a considerable competition between two Opposition Front Benchers. I hope that the hon. Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon) will forgive me if I take the point of order from the hon. Member for Llanelli (Nia Griffith) first.
Nia Griffith
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I fear that the Secretary of State for Defence may have inadvertently misled the House during Defence Questions earlier today when he said that
“the Ministry of Defence does not actually administer LIBOR funding—that is the Treasury.”
On 14 March, in a written answer, the Minister for Defence People and Veterans stated categorically:
“Armed Forces related LIBOR grants, including bespoke funds such as the Armed Forces Covenant Fund and Aged Veterans Fund, are committed by HM Treasury and administered by the MOD.”
This really matters, because there is concern about the possibility that LIBOR funds have been mis-spent by the Ministry of Defence, and the Secretary of State cannot simply pass the buck. Will you please advise me, Mr Speaker, on how the record might be put straight?
Mr Speaker
If the Secretary of State believes that he has erred—and, of course, to err is human, so there is no shame in it—it is up to him to correct the record. Each and every Member is responsible for the veracity of what he or she says in this place, and, indeed, for correcting that which is wrong. It would be perfectly possible, if the Secretary of State accepts that he has made a mistake, for him to put the record straight via a correction in the Official Report, known to us, and to some outside this place, as Hansard. I think I can say with some confidence that the gravamen of the hon. Lady’s point of order will communicate itself to the Secretary of State ere long, and we must await developments.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Nia Griffith and John Bercow(7 years, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Speaker
The Secretary of State cannot be accused of excluding from his answers any consideration that might in any way, at any time, to any degree, be considered material, for which we are immensely grateful. However, there is a premium on time, because we have a lot of questions to get through.
Nia Griffith (Llanelli) (Lab)
Given the increased activity of Russian submarines in our waters and our reliance on allies for maritime patrol support, will the Secretary of State now admit that it was a gross mistake to cut our maritime patrol aircraft in 2010 without a planned replacement, leaving us without that capability for nearly a decade?
Mr Speaker
The Secretary of State is uncaged, and there is much to be said for that.
Nia Griffith
I remain concerned that the Government have not learnt the lessons of the past when it comes to cutting capabilities, leaving serious gaps in our defences only to have to replace them further down the line. Will the Secretary of State confirm today that the modernising defence programme will not cut our Albion class amphibious warships before their out-of-service dates of 2033 and 2034?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Nia Griffith and John Bercow(7 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
I think it would be fair to say that it was tangential to the subject of the strength of the Royal Navy.
Nia Griffith (Llanelli) (Lab)
We have heard from the Government ad nauseam that the Royal Navy is growing when that is demonstrably untrue. There continues to be a sharp divide between rhetoric and reality. It is utterly unacceptable that the House should hear about significant potential cuts from the newspapers, as we did yet again this weekend. Can the Minister refute those reports, and confirm that we will not see a repetition of the 2010 scale of cuts in our armed forces?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Nia Griffith and John Bercow(7 years, 9 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
Did I hear the Minister banging on about “The X Factor”? This may require some elaboration for some colleagues, I think, but never mind.
Nia Griffith (Llanelli) (Lab)
In spite of increases in accommodation costs and cuts to tax credits, the Government have slashed the starting pay of an Army private by over £1,000 in real terms. This is no way to treat our loyal armed forces, and it will do nothing to resolve the crisis in recruitment and retention. Will the Government now change their priorities, stop thinking about the £2.5 billion tax giveaway they are giving to the big companies and the wealthy, and commit to freeing up the Armed Forces Pay Review Body, so that it is not constrained by the 1% pay cap, allowing it to give a proper pay rise to our armed forces personnel?