Business of the House

Peter Bone Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am glad that we are able to move the Backbench Business debate. I wonder if I may make a plea in return to the hon. Gentleman that he might protect those whose debates in Westminster Hall need to be moved, because one of them is present in the Chamber, and it is obviously a concern that people do not lose the debates that they had.

The hon. Gentleman makes the point about the website on what schools will have to do, and the Secretary of State for Education’s statement that it will be up and running and that headmasters and headmistresses will be able to use it efficiently. I am sure that is right, but immediately after this session I will check with the Secretary of State to ensure that is taking place, because if there are gremlins in the system, the gremlins need to be removed.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con) [V]]

May I endorse the Leader of the House’s comments about the great Northamptonshire MP Brian Binley? He will be greatly missed, but, as someone who wanted to come out of the European Union, I think he will be smiling down on us today. When my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Tom Pursglove) and I founded GO, the Grassroots Out campaign to leave the EU, our goals were to end the free movement of people, to stop spending billions and billions of pounds each and every year with the EU and to make our own laws in our own country, judged by our own judges. Today, the Prime Minister has delivered on that pledge. He has delivered for the people. Given the historic nature of the treaty and the fact that so many Members of Parliament could not participate in the debate today, will the Leader of the House arrange for a series of debates on the treaty, rather like those we have on the Queen’s Speech?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

We are going to have a debate as soon as we are back on global Britain, which allows us to look to the future now that we have left the European Union. I thank my hon. Friend: he has been a tireless campaigner in the Eurosceptic cause as long as I have known him and is one of the people who ensured that we got the referendum victory, so today is in many ways thanks to his efforts. I thought he was going to ask for a public holiday, and I was going to suggest that he could have one, not tomorrow, but the day after.