Business of the House

Debate between Nigel Evans and Christine Jardine

Thursday 11th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

rose—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I did toss the coin, Mr Stephens, and you won.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

Last, but definitely not least, I call Christine Jardine.

[Christine Jardine]

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker, although I do find my concerns about gambling now reinforced.

May I add my congratulations to the Leader of the House on the manner in which she conducted her role in the coronation last weekend? I also welcome the reassurances that she gave earlier on the Government’s commitment to animal welfare. However, the lack of progress of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill has provoked a lot of concern both from my constituents and the Dogs Trust, which was here just this week. I raised the timescale that we now face and this lack of progress in Environment, Food and Rural Affairs questions back in February. Can the Leader of the House give us any reassurance today that the Bill will come back in time and be heard?

[Penny Mordaunt]

The hon. Lady knows that I will say that I will announce forthcoming business in the usual way, but I can reassure the House that the Government remain committed to those measures. They were in our manifesto and we have every intention of delivering them.

Points of Order

Debate between Nigel Evans and Christine Jardine

Tuesday 8th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I thank the right hon. Lady for her point of order. As I said earlier, Ministers are responsible for the answers they give. However, after today’s proceedings, some of which I have chaired, I think Ministers will be in no doubt whatsoever of the urgent desire for more details of the sponsorship scheme and that it should be clarified as quickly as possible. I hope the Treasury Bench will have heard that.

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. On Thursday 3 March in a statement on the attack on Ukraine, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport answered my question on further support for the BBC World Service from her Department by saying that the World Service,

“is funded through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, not my Department”.—[Official Report, 3 March 2022; Vol. 709, c. 1205.]

I believe that in her response the Secretary of State may have inadvertently misled the House. The BBC World Service is chiefly funded by the UK licence fee, not by FCDO, although FCDO provides additional funding. Can you please advise on how I can have the record corrected, Mr Deputy Speaker, or whether it is possible to have a fresh response from the Secretary of State?

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Again, I am grateful for advance notice of that point of order. The Chair is not responsible for the content of contributions made by Ministers, but I am sure the hon. Member’s point has been heard on the Government Benches. Mr Double is going to be incredibly busy passing back some of those messages to Ministers—he is doing it as we speak, so let us hope the new technology is working properly; I think I can see smoke coming from his mobile phone—so the messages will get through to the relevant Ministers. We must move on now, because we have two Opposition day debates and presentations of Bills.

Bills Presented

Official Development Assistance Equalities Impact Assessment (Women and Girls) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Layla Moran, supported by Daisy Cooper, Wendy Chamberlain, Sarah Olney, Sarah Green, Helen Morgan, Christine Jardine, Munira Wilson and Wera Hobhouse, presented a Bill to require the Secretary of State to lay before Parliament an equalities impact assessment of the effects on women and girls of the decision not to spend 0.7% of UK gross national income on official development assistance in each financial year until that target is again reached.

Bill read the first time; to be read a second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 268).

Women Leaving Prison (Safe Accommodation) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Daisy Cooper, supported by Wendy Chamberlain, Layla Moran, Sarah Olney, Sarah Green, Helen Morgan, Christine Jardine, Munira Wilson and Wera Hobhouse, presented a Bill to place a duty on the Lord Chancellor to ensure the provision of safe and secure accommodation for all women leaving prison; to require the Lord Chancellor to review support provided to women leaving prison with the objective of preventing such women becoming homeless; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the first time; to be read a second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 269).

State Pension Underpayments (Divorced Women) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Sarah Green, supported by Daisy Cooper, Wendy Chamberlain, Layla Moran, Sarah Olney, Helen Morgan, Christine Jardine, Munira Wilson and Wera Hobhouse, presented a Bill to require the Secretary of State to expand the scope of the legal entitlements and administrative practice exercise to correct state pension underpayments to include underpayments to divorced women; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the first time; to be read a second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 270).

Gender Pay Gap Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Sarah Olney, supported by Daisy Cooper, Wendy Chamberlain, Layla Moran, Sarah Green, Helen Morgan, Christine Jardine, Munira Wilson and Wera Hobhouse, presented a Bill to require the Secretary of State to review the effectiveness of gender pay gap reporting requirements.

Bill read the first time; to be read a second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 271).

Surgical Mesh (Support) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Sarah Green, supported by Daisy Cooper, Wendy Chamberlain, Layla Moran, Sarah Olney, Helen Morgan, Christine Jardine, Munira Wilson and Wera Hobhouse, presented a Bill to make provision about support for women who have suffered ill health as a result of the use of surgical mesh; to require the Secretary of State to report to Parliament on the merits of establishing a redress scheme for such women; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the first time; to be read a second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 272).

Maternity Services (Rural Areas) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Daisy Cooper, supported by Wendy Chamberlain, Layla Moran, Sarah Olney, Sarah Green, Helen Morgan, Christine Jardine, Munira Wilson and Wera Hobhouse, presented a Bill to place a duty on the Secretary of State to ensure equal access to maternity services for people living in rural and coastal areas to those living in other areas, including access to the same range of birthing methods and locations; to require consultant-led maternity services to be available within 45 minutes of an expectant mother’s home; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the first time; to be read a second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 273).

Planning (Women’s Safety) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Christine Jardine, supported by Daisy Cooper, Wendy Chamberlain, Layla Moran, Sarah Olney, Sarah Green, Helen Morgan, Munira Wilson and Wera Hobhouse, presented a Bill to require an assessment of the impact on women’s safety to be published as a condition of planning approval for major developments.

Bill read the first time; to be read a second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 274).

Miscarriage and Stillbirth (Black and Asian Women) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Munira Wilson, supported by Daisy Cooper, Wendy Chamberlain, Layla Moran, Sarah Olney, Sarah Green, Helen Morgan, Christine Jardine and Wera Hobhouse, presented a Bill to require the Secretary of State to lay before Parliament annual reports on progress in reducing miscarriage and stillbirth rates among Black and Asian women.

Bill read the first time; to be read a second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 275).

Rape (Conviction Rates) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Wera Hobhouse, supported by Daisy Cooper, Wendy Chamberlain, Layla Moran, Sarah Olney, Sarah Green, Helen Morgan, Christine Jardine and Munira Wilson, presented a Bill to establish an independent review of rape conviction rates and of the effects on the victims of rape; and to require the Secretary of State to act on the recommendations of the review.

Bill read the first time; to be read a second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 276).

Budget Resolutions

Debate between Nigel Evans and Christine Jardine

Wednesday 27th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. If people are going to intervene, they should at least have the good grace to come in a few speakers before.

[Christine Jardine]

I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey) for his intervention, and I will address the Government’s strange priorities.

Under this Chancellor we have seen the highest tax burden since the second world war and the lowest school spending per pupil in a generation. Increasing funding per pupil by 2025 will come too late for millions of children whose life chances are being dashed. That is the choice the Chancellor has made, and it is the wrong choice.

Many of us in this place come from a background in which education was our passport to a better future. Our families had the support they needed to enable us to be the first in our family to go to university, and I do not want to deny that chance to this generation. The Chancellor’s announcement on universal credit is giving just a third of what he snatched away, and millions of families who are not in work will not be helped at all. What will their winter be like? Those parents will be choosing between eating and heating. For those who get the disparaging increase in the minimum wage, it has already been eaten up by the national insurance hike.

Beijing Winter Olympics and Chinese Government Sanctions

Debate between Nigel Evans and Christine Jardine

Thursday 15th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD) [V]]

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker; I will do my best.

I congratulate the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) on securing this crucial debate, because it is about much more than it might appear at first sight. It is not about sport. It is not about the Olympic games. It is about human rights, and sending a clear message to the Government of China that we will not take part in what will be a celebration of their regime, which, as he so clearly demonstrated, is exactly what it will become.

We have already heard some amazingly erudite contributions, particularly from the hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Tom Tugendhat). Although I have not been sanctioned in the same way that he and many other hon. Members have, my constituency of Edinburgh West is home to the Chinese consulate in Scotland, and in the past it has been made clear to me that my comments and criticisms of the regime’s actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong or Tibet were less than welcome. Nevertheless, I wish to make it clear that I do not support any indication of this country’s approval of China’s action that might be inferred from diplomatic support of the games.

I am someone who has always believed that politicians should not interfere in sport and doubted, like the hon. Member for Bolton North East (Mark Logan), the value of sporting boycotts, but this summer, like so many others in these islands, I have been swept up in the amazing buzz and excitement that surrounded Wimbledon, Euro 2020, and the anticipation of the Open championship and the Tokyo Olympics—each of them a great celebration of sport, bringing so much happiness to so many young people in pursuit of the goals of sporting achievements, which have already been detailed. So it should be with the winter Olympics next year, but I fear that it will not be.

I am in agreement with those who believe that it is not appropriate for a sporting celebration, and the Olympics in particular, with their declared high ideals and spirit, to be taking place in a country against a background of widespread human rights abuses and undermining of democracy, which is why I am in complete agreement with today’s motion. Indeed, I might be tempted to go even further.

Just a few days ago, the Foreign Affairs Committee released a report urging the UK Government to partially boycott the 2022 Beijing winter Olympics. Earlier, in February, our party leader, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey), announced that we would call for Britain to boycott the 2022 Beijing winter Olympics over alleged ethnic cleansing against Uyghur Muslims, who have been imprisoned and subject to political re-education in Xinjiang. Who could fail to be moved by the TV pictures last year of adults forced to kneel on railway platforms before being loaded on to trains to be taken to who-knows-where and with an intent that I do not even want to think about? At the same time, we see a threat to democracy in Hong Kong and the Chinese Government failing to respect the joint agreement, which was a precursor to the end of British involvement in the territory in 1997.

Against that background, for us to offer any official Government backing for the winter Olympics would be to send the wrong message to Beijing. It would be telling it that we are fine with its behaviour—that we will turn a blind eye to the reports of a million Uyghur Muslims in detention camps and will not defend democracy in Hong Kong. I do not believe that is a message we want to send.

I listened to my hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) speak about what might now be regarded as the sham of Beijing’s opening ceremony—a dazzling, hypnotic sham. Do we want once again to provide such a promotional opportunity for a regime whose approach to human rights is the antithesis of everything we believe in in this country—human rights, democracy and respect—or a positive platform to show off and display the regime in a positive light? I do not believe so.

After my party leader made his call for a boycott, there were warnings that this might mean sanctions from the Chinese Government, but to give in to that threat would be to give way to bullying, which is why I back the call by my hon. Friend the Member for Bath to go further. We should go further than the growing consensus in support of a diplomatic boycott and boycott the winter Olympics in Beijing completely. We should not allow the Olympics to return to China until the regime begins to change and to respect human rights and democracy. There has been enough hand wringing and prevarication. We need to learn from the mistakes of the past. The treatment of Uyghur women and children forced to undergo procedures that they feel they have no choice in meets the criteria for genocide as set out in the genocide convention.

The Liberal Democrats want our Government to send a message that the UK will stand up against such crimes against humanity. We will not indulge the Chinese Government by offering diplomatic credibility to the games. We will not help them to promote the regime on world stage. We will not support the Olympics in Beijing. We do not believe that the Government should do so, and we support the motion before the House today.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

There is now a six-minute limit.

Government's Management of the Economy

Debate between Nigel Evans and Christine Jardine

Tuesday 23rd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD) [V]]

It is a pleasure to speak today and to follow the hon. Member for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock). When I look around me, I see that the Government’s handling of the pandemic has left us with the worst economic recession of the G7 and that their botched trade deal with the EU has caused unnecessary avoidable damage.

I am slightly disappointed with this debate. At a time when this country faces an enormous challenge to its future, when my constituents are crying out for an economic plan that will save their jobs or allow the company that they have invested years and their family’s future in to survive, and when taxi drivers, hairdressers and florists who have not been able to earn for most of the past year are desperate for some hope that the Government will help them, I am disappointed that the Labour party wants to talk about the past. It is a past that we cannot change. Surely Labour Members must appreciate that when they look back to the times when their own economic policies were less than universally successful. So please let us park the political tribalism and avoid point scoring. Let us look at where the country is and what it needs.

The economy has shrunk 10% in the past year. Unemployment this morning is at 5.1%, and half of those who have joined that massive figure from paid employment are less than 25 years old. Our young people do not know if the future they have worked and planned for is now going to be possible. The future is uncertain for so many. Of course we should learn from what has gone before, but we should be talking about and planning for what is ahead of us, because this is about recovery. Our experiences may differ, but surely we have all felt the pain of the past year and more, through the people we serve. Many have felt it more acutely than others, and that is the point. We have to keep people in work and businesses afloat, so that they are as strong as they can be as we slowly come through to the other side of this. Some will have to rebuild, and it is our responsibility to give them the tools to be able to do that. That is why the country is holding its breath, hoping to hear some hope from the Chancellor next week.

We need to innovate our way out of this crisis and to put the environment back at the heart of the UK’s agenda. We need to tackle mass unemployment and establish ourselves as the country of the green industrial revolution. We need to bring under Government support the countless self-employed people who have been excluded from all help, and we need a long-term extension to the furlough. We need a bold green recovery plan, an increased carers allowance, access to free school meals and better mental health services, and maybe the time has come to recognise that universal credit has gone wrong. We need to investigate a universal basic income, and listen to the voices from our cross-party parliamentary groups, the devolved Administrations, the Mayors and the public bodies up and down the country—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. Time’s up.

Covid-19

Debate between Nigel Evans and Christine Jardine

Monday 22nd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD) [V]]

A year ago, covid-19 was a distant threat. Today, it has claimed more than 100,000 lives and damaged tens of thousands more in this country. In its wake, it has left us with the worst death rate in Europe and an ailing economy.

We all, I am sure, welcome the terrific progress that has been made in vaccinating millions of people. It is that vaccination programme that will protect us all in the future. It will help to protect our NHS from being overwhelmed in the way that we heard from the Minister it almost was at the turn of the year. We need to protect and support our magnificent NHS staff, who have risked their own health on the frontline—many of them are foreign nationals with no guarantee that they will be able to stay—and those who look after mental health, which we know has come under immense pressure across the country.

I regret that I have to disagree with the hon. Members for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford) and for Aberdeen South (Stephen Flynn). The picture that Scottish National party Members paint in this place of their Government’s glorious success in leading the fight against covid-19 in Scotland and rolling out the vaccine north of the border is not, I am afraid, reflected in the daily calls I receive from constituents, as many others do, who watched the success down south and compared it with the delays we were encountering in Scotland. The people of Scotland, in my constituency and in many others, deserve much more respect for what they have endured and achieved in this past year. They deserve those of us who serve them to put all our attention, our sole focus, on recovering from the health and economic impact of this pandemic.

Tomorrow we are due to hear the latest unemployment figures and learn just how many jobs have been lost, and how many families are now paying the economic cost of the pandemic. The vaccine is crucial in fighting the health war, but we need a bold innovative plan next week from the Chancellor to rebuild and repair our economy to help the countless small businesses—retailers, florists, cafés, bars, taxi drivers—many of which are in my constituency of Edinburgh West. We need furlough extended and finally an acknowledgement of the thousands —no, millions—of people who have had no financial support at all in this crisis. No more patchwork reactions from the Chancellor, but a clear comprehensive plan for small businesses. The tourist industry, events, and our aviation sector, which is facing the biggest threat in its history, all need support.

My hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) called for a resilience fund for our children and young people who have so often been forgotten. They need the best support we can offer. That must not end with the reopening of the schools; that is a step, not a solution.

We all want to see an end to lockdown and covid itself, to feel secure in our daily lives and be able to share them again with our families and friends. We have made progress, but we have so much more to do—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Sorry Christine. I call Jacob Young.

Covid-19: Dental Services

Debate between Nigel Evans and Christine Jardine

Thursday 14th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD) [V]]

One of the more surprising effects of covid-19 is that I miss going to the dentist—a phrase I never expected to use. Although we might recognise the impact on ourselves, we should be in no doubt about how difficult the situation has been for those who continue to work and provide vital dental services in the pandemic. It is different from the situation in hospitals, but still difficult and exhausting, and it carries the constant underlying worry of infection.

The situation affects the whole UK. I hope that the Government will take the impact on dental health into account in discussions with Holyrood. That is a significant motivation for me today, because we have accounts of problems across the UK. James Craig of the Scottish Dental Association has described the experience of wearing a respiratory mask so tight that it was like breathing through a pillow. Another dentist felt that the profession had been thrown under a bus. Dentists have had to try to deal with public demand and then abuse when they cannot deliver through no fault of their own.

We must also accept that there are wider consequences for our health services as existing NHS dental health care becomes stretched, meaning that NHS-commissioned activity targeted at oral health inequality will be at risk. Many of us could find it difficult to get timely access to urgent, unscheduled dental work. As that begins to take hold, increased unmet care will have a widespread impact on our general health and wellbeing, leading to more and more people turning to GPs, emergency care and potentially hospital admissions.

Research shows that, as with so many of the impacts and so much of the collateral damage from covid-19, the vulnerable will suffer most. That will exacerbate the health inequality on which the pandemic has brought a stark focus.

Recently, I was contacted about an issue that young dentists assure me affects them across the UK. Associate dentists’ earnings have been halved because their payment is based on the work they carry out and the number of NHS patients on their books. We are currently awaiting the outcome of discussions between Holyrood and BDA Scotland to find a solution. Like everyone else affected by the pandemic, they need a solution soon.

 I once put off having a toothache checked out, because it was not much of a nuisance and I was busy with other more important and pressing stuff; I would mention it at my next check-up. Before that was due, it flared up, became much worse, and I needed emergency root canal treatment. I also got a lecture from my dentist about leaving problems so that they escalate and become more serious. It is sound advice that we should perhaps listen to in this situation.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I call Janet Daby. Janet, I will stop you at 4.42 pm, so please ignore the clock at the bottom of the left-hand side. Then we will come to the Front-Bench contributions.

Public Order

Debate between Nigel Evans and Christine Jardine

Monday 15th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Kate, I am terribly sorry, but I cannot hear you, and I suspect the Home Secretary cannot either. We will try to come back to you when that issue can be resolved.

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

I echo the remarks that have been made paying tribute to the work done by the police force in the face of such horrific mindless violence and acts at the weekend, but may I draw the Home Secretary’s attention to the fact that many of us are concerned that we are yet to see the details of the review the Prime Minister has announced? It threatens to be a distraction from the real problem at the moment, which is that so many BAME communities in this country feel that they are the disproportionate victims of stop and search and many other inequalities. We have to address those inequalities and we have to act now. We cannot allow this review to be a distraction and yet another review that sits on a Whitehall shelf, paying lip service to action rather than actually providing the action that we need.

Proportional Representation: House of Commons

Debate between Nigel Evans and Christine Jardine

Tuesday 23rd April 2019 Westminster Hall

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Evans.

I confess right away that I am not a recent convert to PR; there has been no damascene conversion for me. One of the reasons why I joined the Liberal Democrats when I did was that it seemed obvious to me that the current system has a fatal flaw. That was obvious to me from a young age, because my parents lived in a safe seat, but did not vote for the party that won every single time for as long as that party existed, until 2015. I learned at an early age that first past the post does not represent everybody.

I am not one of the Members in this House who has been elected by proportional representation, although there are many. My hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) was elected to the Scottish Parliament by proportional representation, as were many Government Members, yet this place remains the only national Parliament in the EU that uses first past the post. We often get caught up in talking about percentages, representation and types of PR, but if we look at first past the post, there is only one figure that really matters: 44% of the votes cast are meaningless. Those people are failed by a system that sets one party against another.

Living as I do in Scotland under a PR system at every level—except the Westminster level—I see the difference. I see the difference in a Scottish Parliament that has had, with one exception, minority Governments, and has been forced to find consensus and a way that suited the majority of the people represented in that Parliament. As was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson), who is just leaving, we also have PR at council level in Scotland, and a direct link between the voters and their representatives.

Next time we find ourselves in deadlock in Parliament, where one side cannot win over the other—I am sure it will not be long in the current political climate—we should think how different it would be if we had a proportional representation system, in which we all had constituencies and constituents watching what we were doing, but also had a way of being forced to find consensus, and had more than two big power brokers that had everything at stake and no reason to listen to anybody else.

[Mr Nigel Evans (in the Chair)]

Earlier, when I counted the Members standing, I did not notice that Chris Heaton-Harris was one of them. We will allow three minutes each for those who are standing, which will eat very slightly into the winding-up speeches.