Business of the House
Debate between Penny Mordaunt and John Hayes(6 months ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this important matter. Knife crime devastates lives, and we now have some of the toughest laws in the world to tackle it, with bans on particular knives, and a huge effort made by our local police. Since 2019, we have taken 138,000 weapons off our streets, and violent crime has fallen by 44% since we took office in 2010, but there are pockets where it is still a huge issue. I commend the work that the voluntary sector is doing, including the Knife Angel and many other groups, many of which are led by victims of knife crime or their families. I will ensure that the Home Office has heard what he said.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
I endorse the thanks to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to Mr Speaker and his other Deputies. In the spirit of conviviality and equanimity that has prevailed, and knowing from experience that Members from across the House are here because they want to do the best for their constituents, I urge the Leader of the House in the national interest to arrange, even at this late stage, an urgent statement on how public procurement can serve the common good. My constituency in Lincolnshire is the food basket of Britain, making products that fill shelves and shops across the country. We really need to use public money to buy British and back Britain.
Penny Mordaunt
I could not agree more with my right hon. Friend. As he knows, there has been a huge focus in our food strategy on ensuring that we do that, and some of our colleagues have provided additional innovation: people can now ensure that they are buying British produce when they shop at a supermarket, or order from a supermarket online. I cannot promise him a statement, but I will ensure that the Department hears what he said. I thank him for being a champion of all things British, including British produce, and for supporting our farmers.
Business of the House
Debate between Penny Mordaunt and John Hayes(9 months, 1 week ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. The report was recently published, and the Government have committed to respond to it very swiftly. He will know that the next questions to the Secretary of State are on 5 March, but I will make sure that the Government have heard what the hon. Gentleman has said and update his office.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
The Leader of the House will have heard me ask the Prime Minister a question yesterday about the threat to food security posed by a string of monstrous pylons that will run down the east coast and through some of the most productive farmland in the country. Simultaneously, we face applications for huge solar plants on the best land we have, which feeds the nation; 30% of our fresh produce is grown on this land. Given her exemplary answer to me last week, will the Leader of the House, in that vein, arrange for a meeting with the relevant Secretaries of State and a delegation—inevitably led by me—of affected colleagues, so that we can immediately put an end to these threats to our food security?
Penny Mordaunt
I thank my right hon. Friend for all the campaign work he is doing on this very important issue. It is an important matter not just for his constituents directly affected by it, because it has implications for our food security if large swathes of high-quality agricultural land are not being used to grow food and build this nation’s resilience. He will know that the next questions to the Secretary of State are on 14 March, but I will write this afternoon on my right hon. Friend’s behalf and encourage a meeting with a Minister and all colleagues affected by this issue.
Business of the House
Debate between Penny Mordaunt and John Hayes(9 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
The hon. Lady can have a debate on the role and function of the Leader of the House every Thursday at approximately 10.30 am. I hope it is colleagues’ experience that when they ask me questions, I either furnish them with answers if it is about the business of the House or I follow up with Departments and write to them. I am afraid that, as Hansard will show, her questions to me and to various Departments are sometimes hard to fathom.
The hon. Lady asked me about a particular piece of polling. I can certainly write to the Cabinet Office, although she indicated that she may kindly save me the trouble; in that case, I will just send her letter to the Cabinet Office for it to respond to her. But it comes in a week when the Scottish Government’s own costs for polling have been exposed.
I hope that hon. Members disagree with the hon. Lady’s assessment that I demean my office, although that is high praise indeed from the Scottish National party—I think my party has some way to go before we reach 22 live police investigations. While it may be true that those who live in Labour areas are 40% more likely to be a victim of crime, I think SNP politicians are probably 40% more likely to be investigated for one.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
I do not need to join the new organisation pointed out by the shadow Leader of the House because, as my friends the hon. Members for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery), for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) and for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman) know, I am already popular and conservative.
Will the Leader of the House organise a statement on pernicious political correctness? Mr Speaker, you will be as surprised as I was to note that the Environment Agency has removed the words “mother” and “father” from all its documents because it believes they should be non-gendered. My dear mother, looking down from a greater place, will be spinning in her grave to have been designated non-gender. Can we have a debate on that? It sounds like nonsense, but it is actually much more sinister. Free speech is at stake.
Penny Mordaunt
I thank my right hon. Friend for raising that important question. While our legislation and the things that arm’s length bodies use need to be legally accurate, it is important that people can use language and words such as “mother” and “father”. Actually, that is not only the right thing to do but what the guidance they operate under says they should do. May I ask him to let my office have the details of that case? In addition to perhaps having a debate—he will know how to apply for one in the usual way—I could follow that up for him with relevant arm’s length body.
Business of the House
Debate between Penny Mordaunt and John Hayes(10 months ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
I think the hon. Lady for her question. At the last oral questions, the Levelling Up Secretary highlighted that local authorities have been given the chance to take 100% of the receipts from right to buy and invest them in social housing. We have provided a very good funding settlement to the Scottish Government— at least 20% more funding per head than the UK Government spend on the same things in other parts of the UK—but more often than not the Scottish Government do not pass that funding either to local authorities or, in the case of support for businesses, to those businesses. That is a very sorry state of affairs; if it could be rectified, we would have a much better chance of dealing with the issues she raises.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
As T. S. Eliot opined, time present and time past are inseparable, for we are what we remember—who we have known, where we have been, what we have done. When dementia robs people of those precious memories, as it does for 850,000 people, their lives are diminished. That often happens with age, and with age come other conditions such as arthritis, which affects one in six people, or diabetes. Can we have a statement on the Government’s major conditions strategy to ensure that that strategy is holistic and takes account of the fact that many people suffer from multiple conditions?
Penny Mordaunt
I thank my right hon. Friend for raising this very important matter. The Health Secretary will not be answering questions until 5 March, so I shall relay to her his interest in this area. We can combat those particular major conditions partly through research. As he will know, several research missions in dementia care since 2010 have arrived not just at fantastic new drugs but made connections between dementia and those other conditions that he outlines.
Business of the House
Debate between Penny Mordaunt and John Hayes(10 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
I also wish the hon. Lady a very happy new year. I do welcome the good news on the gender pay gap in Scotland. It is nice to see the SNP championing some good progress in Scotland and giving credit where it is due.
With regard to the UK Government’s record, we are making good progress: since 2010 we have an additional 2 million women in work. As the author of the women in work road map, which looks at every aspect of a woman’s life and tries to address the reasons why she is financially disadvantaged right through her life, from when she leaves school, through raising a family to the pensions gap, I know that this Government are committed to delivering on those disparities.
The hon. Lady raised the issue of Channel 4. I do not know the answer to that today, but I shall certainly ensure that the relevant Department has heard what she said.
The hon. Lady will know what the Home Secretary has said about the other matter she raised. I hope she also knows that the Home Secretary is a very decent fellow who loves his wife greatly. They have been through a lot in recent years as a couple and the hon. Lady will also know that.
I will conclude by adding some further good news about Scotland, which I hope the hon. Lady will welcome. I am delighted that part of the Stone of Destiny has been recovered from SNP headquarters. I am sure that is a great relief to all Members. It is easy to lose things, I know, like a couple of billion quid from your budget, but I am sorry to hear that the SNP has taken as much care of it as it has taken as the steward of Scotland’s public services. Happily, the Tupperware container it was stored in has protected it during its stay and the police raids on that premises. I join my Scottish colleagues in encouraging the SNP to find a more suitable home for it.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
Traditional craft skills provide jobs and sustain businesses. They also emphasise our shared history: everything from wheelwrights to weavers, and from corsetry to carpentry. It was therefore very good news that, after a long campaign by the all-party parliamentary group for craft, which I chair, the Government announced that our country will now join the UNESCO convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage. Will the Leader of the House bring a statement to the House saying when we will join, which will allow colleagues across the Chamber to question what further steps the Government might take to promote the expertise and experience that epitomises the best of Britain?
Penny Mordaunt
I thank my right hon. Friend both for his question and for the diligent work he and his colleagues have done in raising the profile and shining a spotlight on the incredible heritage of crafts and skills that we ought to celebrate retaining and to educate others about. I shall certainly write to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Given that my right hon. Friend has just missed departmental questions today, I will ask her to inform him about the timetable.
Business of the House
Debate between Penny Mordaunt and John Hayes(1 year, 2 months ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
I congratulate everyone who worked locally in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency to secure that facility. The Lawn Tennis Association does wonderful work in many constituencies to ensure that these important and accessible facilities are there. I will certainly write to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to thank her and her officials for the role that they played in making the money available. I hope that everyone will engage with the Lawn Tennis Association, which does terrific work.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
Dangerous dogs are doing harm. The Leader of the House will know that serious and organised crime is increasingly moving into the lucrative business of breeding such dogs. There was an attack last week in which a child and a 20-year-old man were severely injured. Last year there were nine fatalities, the majority of which resulted from attacks by the so-called American bully XL dog. This dog needs to be banned. I have made representations to Ministers and the Home Secretary, in her typical wisdom, has said that she supports such a ban. May we have a statement setting out that the Government will do just that under the provisions of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, before more people are maimed and more people die?
Penny Mordaunt
I thank my right hon. Friend for raising this issue, which other colleagues have also been raising over several weeks. We take it extremely seriously, and I know that urgent advice has been commissioned on what steps can be taken, as the Home Secretary set out at the weekend. Beyond that immediate work, we have a number of measures in place to protect people, including penalties under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, which can put people in prison for a maximum of 14 years or disqualify them from ownership if they let their dogs get dangerously out of control. This is not just about irresponsible owners, but about people seeing these animals as a particular weapon, and we need to approach the subject with that in mind. I thank my right hon. Friend for raising it. I know the Home Secretary is on the case and I will ensure that colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are also aware of his concerns.
Business of the House
Debate between Penny Mordaunt and John Hayes(1 year, 5 months ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
Let me first say that I always answer the hon. Lady’s questions. Indeed, I am going to lavish praise on the Scottish Government this week, because their First Minister has achieved a landmark achievement —credit where credit is due—in that he has the honour of being the first SNP First Minister in its entire history not to have been arrested, which is quite an achievement.
I shall not go over what I previously said to the shadow Leader of the House on the economy and on the Privileges Committee, but let me be specific about the points the hon. Lady raises. She is right that as Defence Secretary, I—in my 85 days in office—gave all of our armed forces a pay rise, and made sure that no one who ever serves in our armed forces will earn less than the national living wage. I think that is an important principle. The hon. Lady will know that we care deeply about the welfare of our armed forces, and indeed about their financial resilience. That is why this Government are compensating armed forces personnel in Scotland for the additional tax that they have to pay under the Scottish Government. We think that is an important point.
The hon. Lady, again—this is a regular theme—criticises the UK Government for our obligations under the law, our overreach on devolution, as she sees it, and our democratic obligations. I gently point out that she might have more credibility on such matters if the Scottish Government had not been found repeatedly to have been in breach of the Scotland Act 1998. Ministers have been touring the world, at Scottish taxpayers’ expense, undermining our Union, undermining our armed forces and the nuclear deterrent, and undermining referendums and democracy. In doing so, they are undermining the Scottish Government’s credibility, and the arguments they are trying to mount against us. I ask the hon. Lady to reflect on that.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
Regretfully, the subject of dangerous dogs is salient again. Deep regrets born of the most tragic events.; just last month a 37-year-old man was killed in Greater Manchester; 17-month-old Bella-Rae Birch was killed last year, and just before that, 10-year-old Jack Lis. They were all killed by so-called Bully dogs—the American XL Bully. We need an urgent statement from the Government, not to debate the matter, but simply to confirm that that bad breed, bred to kill, should be banned.
Business of the House
Debate between Penny Mordaunt and John Hayes(2 years, 2 months ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
The Chancellor will be in this place tomorrow, and Members will be able to question him on what his policies are rather than speculating about what has or has not been in the media. I hope that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and Mr Speaker would approve of that.
Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, we have witnessed an extraordinary nationwide and, indeed, kingdom-wide response: a moving mix of sorrow and celebration—sorrow at our loss and celebration of a life of remarkable service. So that that mood is marked forever and remembrance can last for generations to come, a fitting national memorial needs to be established. Does the Leader of the House therefore agree that a statement should be made to this House on what form that memorial might take? For me, a statue on the final plinth in Trafalgar Square would be ideal.
Penny Mordaunt
I thank my right hon. Friend for his suggestion. Clearly, these matters will concern many Members, but they will also involve other bodies outside this House. However, I shall certainly raise it with the DCMS Secretary and ensure that she properly consults Members on their wishes as plans are taken forward.