Business of the House

Nigel Evans Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I would like to reiterate the points made in the letter sent by my right hon. Friend the Culture Secretary to museums recently that they are not political campaigning institutions and they should not be intruding into today’s politics. But

“Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules,

Of Hector and Lysander, and such great men as these

But of all the world’s brave heroes, there’s none that can compare

With”—

Boadicea, Alfred the Great, Richard the Lionheart, the Black Prince, Henry V, Francis Drake, Prince Rupert, Marlborough, Wolfe, Nelson, Moore, Wellington, Gordon and Montgomery, among others. These are great heroes and we should celebrate them, and I have not even mentioned—but I will now—Caractacus. Caractacus so impressed the Romans that, when they took him to Rome in chains, they freed him because they thought he was a fine and noble warrior. We should be proud of our history, and proud of Caractacus.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Sir John, you were on personal terms with a lot of those people, weren’t you? [Laughter.]

[Zarah Sultana (Coventry South) (Lab) [V]]

Throughout this pandemic, staff at Coventry City Council have stepped up to the challenge, doing amazing work to support residents in need, but a decade of vicious Conservative cuts to budgets have taken their toll on local authorities, and now this crisis has further hit finances at the city council. Will the Leader of the House give Government time to discuss not only compensating councils for the financial hit of the pandemic, but providing them with funding to invest in the city and meet the community’s needs—from building more council houses to reopening youth centres?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

It is always dangerous for any Leader of the House to trespass on matters relating to decisions that will be made by the Treasury. The Treasury will make its decisions and announce them in the fullness of time.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I should like to thank the Leader of the House for his statement. Before the next ministerial statement, on Her Majesty the Queen’s platinum jubilee, we will have a three-minute suspension to enable the safe departure and arrival of Members of Parliament.