Business of the House

Paul Flynn Excerpts

Thursday 16th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab)]

Will it not be appropriate in the new year to debate fully the content of a debate that is taking place this afternoon in order that we can pay tribute to the courage and vision of my right hon. Friend the Member for Coventry North East (Mr Ainsworth)? Although hon. Members take various views about drug problems, there is a great deal of unanimity on the fact that the policies that all parties have followed for the past 40 years have resulted in the biggest price for drug treatment in Europe, the harshest laws and the worst outcomes in terms of deaths, drug crime and drug use. There must be a better way. Can we not build on agreement between all parties to do better in future?

[Sir George Young]

The hon. Gentleman has taken a consistent stand on this issue for many years and I applaud that, although I disagree with him. I think that he is rehearsing a speech that he might give later today in Westminster Hall. He will have heard, doubtless with dismay, that the right hon. Member for Coventry North East (Mr Ainsworth) was denounced by his party leader.

Business of the House

Paul Flynn Excerpts

Thursday 21st October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her well-attended debate yesterday. The Government will be introducing legislation to reform the FSA, as she knows, and that will provide the House with an opportunity to debate the issues she has touched on.

[Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab)]

In the first five years of the Afghan war, only two British soldiers died in conflict. As a consequence of the incursion into Helmand province that figure is now 341. When can we debate the report of the Public Administration Committee that shows the appallingly trivial reasons why that decision was taken, which proves that the incursion into Helmand was a blunder on the scale of the charge of the Light Brigade, but with three times as many British deaths?

[Sir George Young]

Obviously, I regret any loss of life in Afghanistan. I believe that the House debated this issue, on a motion tabled by the Backbench Business Committee, in September. The new Government will respond formally in due course to the Select Committee report, which welcomed their aspirations to think more strategically through the National Security Council.

Business of the House

Paul Flynn Excerpts

Thursday 14th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My right hon. Friend will know that we have already introduced a number of measures to promote growth, such as reducing corporation tax and encouraging the establishment of new businesses in certain regions of the country. I hope that on the back of the CSR he will have the opportunity to make his points in the debate that I have just announced.

[Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab)]

May we debate early-day motion 805 on the brutal, unfair and irrational proposal that would deny Wales and the west of England our only regional passport office and destroy the jobs of 250 loyal workers, who were recently commended by a Minister for their splendid can-do attitude?

[That this House regrets the proposal to close the Newport Regional Passport Office which would result in the loss of 300 jobs and leave Wales and West of England without the services currently available only from regional offices; notes the closure would make Wales the only devolved nation in the UK without a regional office; welcomes the Newport passport workers’ commendation for the high quality of their work and their can-do co-operation when faced with the new challenges; believes that moving work and jobs from Wales to London damagingly reverses the 50-year all-party policy of relocating public sector jobs from the South East of England to areas of high unemployment; and calls for the withdrawal of this irrational, wasteful proposal.]

[Sir George Young]

Of course I understand the local concern about the proposed closure of the passport office in Newport. I will share that concern with my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, so that she is aware of it, and I will write to the hon. Gentleman.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Madeleine Moon (Bridgend) (Lab)]

May we have a debate in Government time on the need to update copyright law, especially to protect small businesses such as The Priory, which is a hair and skin clinic in Bridgend? It inadvertently downloaded from the internet images that were not properly identified and has subsequently faced horrendous bills from Getty Images demanding that it make exorbitant payment for the accidental use of ill-marked images—

[Paul Flynn]

Disgraceful.

[Mrs Moon]

It is disgraceful, as my hon. Friend says, and is damaging a number of small businesses that cannot afford to take legal action to protect themselves.

Queen’s Speech (Date)

Paul Flynn Excerpts

Monday 13th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. As I said, I was surprised that the right hon. Member for Doncaster Central (Ms Winterton) did not welcome the extra time that would now be available to scrutinise the legislation in the current Queen’s Speech.

[Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab)]

Does the Leader of the House agree that dividing Parliament into five segments is an anachronism, irrational and in fact wastes a huge amount of money? It also acts as an obstruction to good government. It costs millions to cover the time of the police and military when we open Parliament each year. Although the Government are probably doing the right deed for the wrong reason, does he not appreciate that this will be a great help for the next Labour Government when it is elected in 2015?

[Sir George Young]

I am not sure that I followed the hon. Gentleman’s logic. As I understand it, he wants no Queen’s Speeches at all, whereas those on his Front Bench want one more than is currently proposed. How they square the circle, I am not quite sure.

Business of the House

Paul Flynn Excerpts

Thursday 22nd July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend invites me to tread on delicate territory. The best response that I can give is that the responsibility for invitations to the garden party at Buckingham palace rests not with me but a higher authority.

[Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab)]

When can we debate early-day motion 560 to praise the BBC for its unrivalled and fearless independence on the “Today” programme and to frustrate the plans of the coalition nomenclatura to shoot the messenger?

[That this House congratulates John Humphrys for his forensic questioning of the Foreign Secretary on NATO's strategy in Afghanistan, which added to the BBC's unrivalled reputation for fearless independent journalism.]

Business of the House

Paul Flynn Excerpts

Thursday 15th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I think that my hon. Friend speaks for Members on both sides of the House. At my advice bureau last Saturday, I discovered that the owner of an Indian restaurant who had advised his customers not to park in the car park, where they might be clamped, had been taken to court by the car-clamping firm and sued for loss of trade. Happily, the restaurant owner won the case, but it underlines the need to have another look at the regime that governs car clampers.

[Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab)]

When can we have a debate on the lamentable state of the Afghan national army to establish that the threat to the safety of our troops comes not from a single rogue soldier but from an entire rogue army?

[Sir George Young]

The Prime Minister made a statement on Afghanistan last week. We want to keep the House regularly informed on progress in Afghanistan, and I hope that there will be an opportunity, if not before the House rises, then perhaps when we come back, for a further update on the progress being made, including in relation to the hon. Gentleman’s point.