Business of the House

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Thursday 30th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend makes a good point that not everybody is online, and I commend him for the campaign with which he has been so closely involved. That is a model for how MPs ought to stick up for their constituents. Trying to ensure that those who are not part of the online world are able to make representations as easily and as well as those who are is important. Manuscript petitions can be presented to the House of Commons every evening, and I have often found that a worthwhile thing to do.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

Will the Leader of the House schedule time for an emergency debate on late-cancelled operations? Chris Gibbons is a constituent of mine. He lives with severe pain and is scheduled to have a knee replacement operation, but it has just been cancelled for the seventh time. Some of those cancellations have happened when he has been in hospital getting ready for the operation. When the Leader of the House gets to his feet, will he start by apologising to Mr Gibbons? When Mr Gibbons goes in for his eighth scheduled operation, will the Leader of the House say that it will happen?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The hon. Gentleman raises a concerning issue, and all constituency MPs worry on behalf of their constituents when operations are cancelled. That cancellation has happened seven times, and of course I apologise to the hon. Gentleman’s constituent. That is the least I can do, although I am not sure that my apology will be a great comfort to him.

[Peter Kyle]

Can you guarantee the next one?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I cannot guarantee the next one as I do not have that authority. That is a matter for NHS England, rather than for the Secretary of State, and it is certainly not a responsibility of mine personally. The NHS has a constant battle to improve on this issue. The percentage of cancelled operations is low, but knowing that is not a great deal of comfort to the person whose operation has been cancelled.