Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Wednesday 25th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

May I assure my right hon. Friend—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Sir Peter must be properly heard from start to finish.

[Sir Peter Tapsell]

May I assure my right hon. Friend that I am not a paid trade union official but I fear that if Members of the House are not allowed a second job, membership of it will soon be largely confined to the inheritors of substantial fortunes or to those with rich spouses, or to obsessive crackpots or those who are unemployable anywhere else?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Wednesday 30th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

Reverting to the subject of Royal Mail, as the leader of the stockbroking team that brought British Gas to the market and as the author of the phrase “Ask Sid”, may I tell the Prime Minister that the Opposition’s questions about, and their criticisms of, the way in which the Royal Mail launch was handled show their total ignorance of City markets? The fact is that when one tries to make an immense sale, one has to take infinite trouble to find people to underwrite it, and they are not able to prophesy what stock markets will be like a week ahead. Therefore, the prudent way in which this sale was handled was very sensible—[Interruption.] Do stop waving. You are waving goodbye.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. People should not gesticulate at the right hon. Gentleman. I know that he is nearing his completion.

[Sir Peter Tapsell]

If an issue fails, those institutions responsible for its launch are ruined.

Ukraine

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Monday 28th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. A very large number of right hon. and hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye on this statement, which I must nevertheless balance against the intense interest that colleagues have expressed in the Second Reading debate on the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill, which is to follow. Accordingly, and exceptionally, as I am sure the House will concur, it might not be possible for me to accommodate everybody who is interested in this statement. If I am to have any chance of doing so, there will be a premium on brevity from Back and Front Benches alike.

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

I put it to my right hon. Friend that the rescue of the failed state of Ukraine from civil war needs to be kept entirely separate from any attempt to overthrow the historic treaty of Küçük Kaynarca of 1774—[Interruption.] Well, we base our defence of Gibraltar and the Falklands on ancient treaties, so they should not be disregarded. The treaty of Küçük Kaynarca transferred the sovereignty of the Crimea from the Ottoman empire to the Russian empire. Hundreds of thousands of Russians sacrificed their lives in the 1940s in defence of that, and even Mr Gorbachev has publicly announced that he regards the Crimea as an integral part of Mother Russia—and the whole of the Russian people take the same view.

[Mr Speaker]

We do not have time for an exhaustive recital of the contents of the treaty, but we are grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for the essential flavour of it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Tuesday 29th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

May I put it to my right hon. Friend that, despite his great personal effort—on which I warmly congratulate him—to try to bring about a successful Geneva II conference on Syria, it is unlikely to make much real progress unless all sides are involved: not only Iran but the Alawites? I ask him to reflect on the success of the Geneva conference of 1954, which against all expectations put an end to the Indochina war, in which enormous casualties were suffered by France. Anthony Eden insisted, despite the strong opposition of John Foster Dulles, that all sides should be present. Why cannot my right hon. Friend do the same?

[Mr Speaker]

It was around that time that the right hon. Gentleman was personal assistant to the said Sir Anthony Eden. It is modesty only that prevents him from pointing out that fact to the House, but I have done so in his stead.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Sir Peter Tapsell]

Yes—you! [Laughter.]

Given that Sir John Vickers has just warned us that British banks are still seriously under-capitalised, does my right hon. Friend now accept that ring fencing, whether electrified or not, cannot be relied on to provide adequate protection for depositors and businesses in the event of another banking crisis? Will he therefore give further thought to the proposal, supported by Mr Paul Volcker and Lord Lawson, for the total separation of the commercial and investment banking sectors?

[Mr Speaker]

I will grant the right hon. Gentleman an Adjournment debate on the matter if he judges it to be necessary after he has heard the reply to his question. We shall see—but I am grateful to him.

EU Council and Woolwich

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Monday 3rd June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Before I call hon. Members to ask further questions arising from the Prime Minister’s statement, I remind the House that, as the Prime Minister pointed out, two individuals have been charged in connection with the death of Drummer Lee Rigby. I emphasise to colleagues that the matter is therefore sub judice. Although it is clear that the public interest means that this is a matter that Parliament must discuss, and in respect of which I should indeed exercise my discretion, I am sure that hon. and right hon. Members will take care to frame their remarks appropriately.

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

On Syria, may I put it to my right hon. Friend, first, that this is fundamentally a religious war between the Shi’a and the Sunni, which has raged within Islam for 1,300 years? Secondly, the Alawites, who are a branch of the Shi’a, will fight to the end, because they believe—and so does the large Christian minority in Syria—that they will be massacred if the Sunni overthrow the present regime. Thirdly, Russia will never allow the regime to be overthrown, because its overthrow would mean a humiliating defeat for President Putin, who made his reputation by crushing the Sunni rebellion in Chechnya.

Syria: anti-Government Forces

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Monday 4th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. In order to maximise the number of contributors, I appeal for short questions and short answers.

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

May I put it to the Minister, as I have on previous occasions to the Foreign Secretary, that the carnage in Syria is a manifestation of the 1,500-year religious civil war between Sunni and Shi’a that is now resurgent in Iraq and Pakistan, and elsewhere in the Islamic world? The only way to stop it in Syria is to persuade Saudi Arabia and Qatar on the one hand, and Iran on the other, to stop sending arms to their co-religionists before Syria inevitably breaks up into two separate countries, which would solve no problems at all.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Tuesday 8th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

While we are on the subject of the efficiency of the Serious Fraud Office, may I ask the Attorney-General how it is that, despite the appalling behaviour of some bank staff in some British banks and the enormous fines that have been imposed on those banks by the regulatory authorities in both New York and London, no senior banker in this country has yet been prosecuted for complicity in serious criminal banking offences?

[Mr Speaker]

I know that in respect of this question the right hon. Gentleman will have in mind fraud in particular, which properly concerns the Serious Fraud Office. He did not say it, but I know that is what he meant.

[Sir Peter Tapsell]

I withdraw the word “criminal” and insert the word “fraudulent” instead.

Leveson Inquiry

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Thursday 29th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is much interest, which I am keen to accommodate. I exhort colleagues please to help me to help them by asking short questions without preamble. I know the Prime Minister will oblige, as ever, with pithy replies.

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

Did Lord Justice Leveson make any comments on the proprietorship of newspapers? Surely, one factor in the depression of press standards is that some owners of national newspapers have been bad men and sometimes foreigners with an ingrained hostility towards Britain, and their editors know that they can keep their jobs only by achieving the required levels of readership and advertising revenue by populist sensationalism, however immoral. Should ownership of British newspapers be confined to British nationals who are judged to be fit and proper for that role, as with television?

Middle East

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Tuesday 20th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Inevitably, I have granted some latitude to the two Front Benches to enable them to treat of all the various matters involved. In trying to accommodate this level of interest, given other pressures on time, it would help if right hon. and hon. Members could confine themselves to a single short question, rather than covering all the terrain. Such questions will, I know, be followed by a typically succinct reply from the Foreign Secretary.

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

In view of the increasing gravity of the situation in the middle east, will my right hon. Friend ask the Leader of the House and Mr Speaker whether they will arrange a full-scale parliamentary debate on the middle east in prime time next week, with time limits on Back-Bench speeches of not less than 15 minutes, so that we can have a proper Back-Bench debate and not a series of soundbites?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Wednesday 16th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Perhaps we can now make progress with short questions and short answers.

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend suppose that Chancellor Merkel now regrets that she did not take the advice he gave her last October about the big bazooka? If she had fired it then, that would have spared the European Union from its present crisis.

IMF

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Monday 23rd April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Sir Peter Tapsell?

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

I had rather changed my mind about asking a question because of the extremely unappealing way in which the shadow Chancellor put his case; but in order to be consistent with everything that I said in October and November, I am bound to say now that I regard it as the prime duty of Germany to solve the European problem, and that I hope that this further support from the IMF will not weaken the pressure on the German Government to do exactly that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Wednesday 26th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Members should calm down and listen to Sir Peter Tapsell.

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

“Pas trop de zèle” was Talleyrand’s advice to Leaders of the Opposition, which meant that he thought that they should not exist in a permanent state of hysteria.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Wednesday 14th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

Was my right hon. Friend taught, at whatever school he happened to attend, that one of the key functions of Parliament over the centuries has been to diminish what the historians have called the overmighty subject. In the 18th century—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I want to hear the hon. Gentleman’s views about the 18th century.

[Sir Peter Tapsell]

In the 18th century, it was the Indian nabobs, denounced by Edmund Burke. In the 19th century, it was the ruthless industrialists, humanised by Shaftesbury. In the 20th century, it was the trade union leaders, tamed by Lady Thatcher. Today, the overmighty subject is the bankers. In the United States, the federal authorities are prosecuting a wide swathe of the top banks. When will that happen here?

Middle East and North Africa

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Tuesday 26th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The Front-Bench exchanges, although enlightening and engaging in equal measure, have nevertheless consumed almost half an hour. I am very keen that there should be time for Back Benchers to contribute. Short questions and short answers are required.

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

May I suggest to my right hon. Friend that it may be over-optimistic to assume that the civil war in Libya will cease when Colonel Gaddafi departs the scene? As he knows, the estrangement of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica dates back to the Punic wars, which is why in 1946 Ernest Bevin wanted to restore Mussolini’s single Libya to its two historic entities. Moreover—if you will bear with me for a moment longer, Mr Speaker—we could impose an immediate partition on the country by air power alone. That would enable us to remove by sea those rebels on the coastal strip who found themselves on the wrong side of the dividing line, before they were massacred by the inland tribes.

[Mr Speaker]

It is always a pleasure to listen to the hon. Gentleman. When I have heard him, I invariably feel better informed, and somewhat improved.

Libya/European Council

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Monday 28th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I just remind the House that, in keeping with the convention, Members who entered the Chamber after the Prime Minister started his statement should not expect to be called.

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

On the economic aspect of the Prime Minister’s statement, does he agree that the recent election in Germany shows that the German people have lost patience with the European Union, as have the British electorate?

Aid Reviews

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Tuesday 1st March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. A great many right hon. and hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye, but I remind the House that there is another statement to follow and thereafter an important Second Reading debate. If I am to accommodate the level of interest, brevity in questions and answers alike is of the essence.

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

May I warmly congratulate my right hon. Friend on a truly impressive statement, which was both highly practical and highly moral? May I also make a micro-economic point? It is one thing—and difficult enough—to establish projects in poor countries, but the most difficult thing of all is ensuring their subsequent daily, humble maintenance. When I walked around poor villages in Africa and Asia, I often came across a tap with clean water in it—one of the greatest assets that we can provide through aid—in the middle of the village. However, very often the tap was either dripping or gushing, and when one asked why, one was told that the rubber washer was always stolen within a few days of being installed. Nobody has ever told me what subsequent use the rubber washers are put to, but if the tap does not work or runs out of water, the whole scheme collapses.

Strategic Defence and Security Review

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Tuesday 19th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. A great many right hon. and hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye. As always, I want to maximise the number of contributors, but brevity in questions and answers alike is vital to the chances of doing so.

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister understand that many will view with great concern the decision to postpone the vital decisions on the future of the Trident nuclear deterrent until 2016—after the general election, when, for all we know, Lib Dem Ministers may still be there in Cabinet and, having been lifelong opponents of the nuclear deterrent, will continue to try to veto it, so that this decision looks like a subordination of the national interest to the political expediency of keeping the coalition going?

Business of the House

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Thursday 22nd July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

I will not take points of order at this stage. I feel sure that the right hon. Lady is nearing the conclusion of her remarks.

Kabul Conference

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Wednesday 21st July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Many right hon. and hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye. If I am to accommodate most or, better still, all of them, brevity in both questions and answers is required.

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

Why has it taken NATO nine years to acquaint itself with the facts of life in Afghanistan when it could have learned them by studying the communiqué issued from Kabul in 1842?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Monday 5th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

As the role of NATO in Afghanistan is increasingly criticised and the threat of terrorism here comes far more from our own disaffected Muslims than from the Tora Bora mountains, is it not rather bizarre that from on high we have heard recently that there are likely to be cuts in our counter-terrorist units here while we continue to sacrifice the precious, heroic lives of our young people in an unnecessary and unwinnable war against the Pashtun tribes?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I know that in the reply from the Front Bench the hon. Gentleman will of course refer to the reform of NATO.

G8 and G20 Summits

Debate between Peter Tapsell and John Bercow

Monday 28th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Many right hon. and hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye, so brevity is required, a legendary example of which will, I know, now be provided by the hon. Member for Louth and Horncastle (Sir Peter Tapsell).

[Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

Is part of President Obama’s message to the leading industrial countries of continental Europe not to move too rapidly or too severely in cutting back on public expenditure or the money supply lest they precipitate a slump, as occurred in the case of Credit Anstaldt, as a result of applying similar policies, led by Germany?