Business of the House

Philip Davies Excerpts

Thursday 16th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I mean the parts that we propose to amend. The recommittal motion will be tabled in good time for the House to debate it on Tuesday.

As for the right hon. Gentleman’s comments on the Bill, I hope that he read what Lord Darzi said about our policy. He said:

“I certainly don’t see it as a U-turn. I see it as a continuum of reform that the health service has witnessed for the last decade under Labour and it’s moving on into the next decade very much based on the changes in the demand on the health service.”

I hope that that view will be reiterated by Opposition spokesmen as the Bill proceeds through its remaining stages.

The Prime Minister dealt with the First Sea Lord’s comments yesterday when he referred to the statement by the Chief of the Defence Staff that we had the resources to continue the exercise in Libya for as long as it took. I remind the right hon. Gentleman that his party in government deferred the conducting of a strategic defence and security review for a long time. We have conducted one, and we have no plans to revisit it.

I announced that there would be a debate on circus animals next Thursday, in Government time, and the Government will make their position clear during that debate. I remind the right hon. Gentleman that that is yet another issue on which his party in government failed to take any action, leaving us to sort it out.

I was slightly surprised when the right hon. Gentleman raised the subject of bin collection. I remember his rather humiliating U-turn on waste only two years ago when, as Environment Secretary, he had to back down on his own proposals. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said, we are backing local authorities that want to increase the frequency and improve the quality of their bin collections, and we have abandoned Labour’s guidance to the Audit Commission which penalised local authorities that carried out weekly collections.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

When can we expect a statement and a debate on sentencing? According to new assault guidelines, an assault on a police officer which involves a punch to the stomach that winds a police officer, when the criminal attempts to evade arrest and has previous convictions for public order offences, can now be punished with only a fine. That kind of soft, lily-livered approach to sentencing is driving my constituents mad, and it is time that the Government got a grip on the issue once and for all.

[Sir George Young]

I have some good news for my hon. Friend. The Government will shortly be introducing a legal aid and sentencing Bill, which will give him an opportunity to share his views with the House at greater length.

Business of the House

Philip Davies Excerpts

Thursday 19th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. As usual, a great many right hon. and hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye but I remind the House that there is pressure on time with a further statement to follow and two important and well-subscribed debates under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee, so there is a premium on brevity.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

On Report of the Localism Bill this week, Back Benchers had about 40 minutes to debate the first group of amendments, in which there were eight new clauses and 156 amendments, and 25 minutes to debate the second group, which contained a similar number of measures. When we were in opposition my right hon. Friend was the first to criticise the Government for allowing such an appalling lack of time for debate on Report. What is he going to do to address the shameful amount of time being allocated to such debates?

[Sir George Young]

I remind my hon. Friend that in the last Session of the previous Parliament, not once did we get two days to debate the remaining stages of a Bill. The Government allocated two days for the remaining stages of the Localism Bill and we are going to do exactly the same with more Bills that are in the pipeline. We are determined to allow the House adequate time. I say to my hon. Friend that I understand that the Public Bill Committee had the opportunity to discuss all the amendments and new clauses and to conclude its deliberations slightly ahead of time.

Business of the House

Philip Davies Excerpts

Thursday 5th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

As my hon. Friend will know, the Procedure Committee has started an inquiry on our sitting hours, the sitting week, and indeed the whole Session. I very much hope that he will find time to respond to the questionnaire, if he has not already completed it, and perhaps to give evidence to the Committee chaired by my right hon. Friend the Member for East Yorkshire (Mr Knight). The House did indeed sit late on Wednesday morning, and if my hon. Friend looks at the time taken by Opposition spokesmen he will see that there were two speeches that lasted one hour each; having read them, I think they could usefully have been condensed. My view is that we could have completed half the consideration in Committee on Tuesday by 10 o’clock, and the other half on Wednesday by 7 o’clock, and I am sorry that, for whatever reason, the House was not able to agree a more sensible approach to the remaining stages of the Committee of the whole House on the Finance (No. 3) Bill. That is one of the factors that my right hon. Friend the Chairman of the Procedure Committee, who is in his place, will take on board in his report.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

May we have a statement from the Secretary of State for International Development on the criteria used for giving overseas aid, so that we can tease out why we are still giving money to India despite the fact that it spends $35 billion a year on defence and $750 million a year on a space programme, and has its own overseas aid programme, and why we are giving money to Pakistan, which may well have been harbouring the world’s worst terrorist?

[Sir George Young]

Pakistan would be a perfectly appropriate subject to raise in the debate on Monday week. I remind my hon. Friend that some 17 million children do not go to school in Pakistan, that it has areas of real deprivation and poverty, and that it is in this country’s interests to have a strong, democratic, well-resourced Pakistan as an important ally in the fight against terrorism.

Oral Answers to Questions

Philip Davies Excerpts

Thursday 28th April 2011 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport was asked—

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

1. What progress he has made in resolving the dispute between race course owners and race course bookmakers on pitch tenures.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (John Penrose)]

I am sure that the House will remember that in 2009 the previous Government brokered an agreement in principle between race course bookmakers and race courses. It is fair to say that progress since has been stately rather than swift, but I am pleased to report that so far 17 race courses, including Towcester and those owned by Northern Racing and Arena Leisure, have agreed terms of one kind or another.

[Philip Davies]

The Minister is right that some progress has been made, but there is very slow progress, if any at all, with some other race courses. He will be aware that the Select Committee report issued in the previous Parliament found very firmly in favour of race course bookmakers. I hope he will take steps to encourage race courses to give a fair settlement to race course bookmakers who felt that they were buying their pitches in perpetuity.

[John Penrose]

I am sure that most Members, and people in the racing family more widely, would agree with my hon. Friend. I think that everyone is collectively anxious that this matter should be resolved quickly. I am sure that as a good free marketeer, my hon. Friend will agree that it is better for both sides to agree this between themselves rather than have political interference to push it along. The official form of words is that all options remain open to me. I would say to those involved that they do not want politicians of any stripe turning up to try to do this for them, because the chances are that the result will be less good than one they have brokered for themselves.

Oral Answers to Questions

Philip Davies Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vaizey]

The improvement of adult literacy is incredibly important, and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has secured substantial funding for adult learning. Many library closures are simply proposals, and many local authorities are continuing to consult on them.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

Labour-run Bradford council proposes to close Wrose, Denholme and Wilsden libraries in my constituency. Does my hon. Friend agree that if a Conservative-led Bradford council could afford to keep those libraries open a few years ago, with the same grant as Bradford receives now from the Government, Labour-run Bradford council should be able to afford to do so, too?

[Mr Vaizey]

As I said, it would be wrong of me to comment on specific proposals, but I am sure that Bradford city council will want to consult extensively with local people.

Business of the House

Philip Davies Excerpts

Thursday 9th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

The business next week includes a debate on terrorist asset freezing, and the hon. Gentleman might have an opportunity at that time to raise the issue that he has just touched on.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

In a recent parliamentary answer, the Government confirmed that, to meet our targets on renewable energy, they will add 26% to the average annual domestic electricity bill and a whopping £246,000 to the average medium-sized non-domestic user’s bill. Given that the Government are trying to create economic growth and tackle fuel poverty, may we have a debate on this, so that the public can understand how damaging these policies are, and that they represent a futile attempt to tackle global warming, which we have not even had for the past 15 years?

[Sir George Young]

I understand the concern expressed by my hon. Friend, but the Government remain committed to their carbon reduction targets. In the near future, we will be debating the Energy Bill, which contains a number of measures designed to reduce the cost of energy, which my hon. Friend is rightly worried about, and he might have an opportunity during the passage of that Bill to develop his arguments.

Business of the House

Philip Davies Excerpts

Thursday 11th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

Stoning to death is a barbarous form of punishment, which the Government and I am sure all Members deplore. I hope that no elected person will threaten any member of our society with that sort of punishment.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

Warming to the theme of the question on food labelling from my right hon. Friend the Member for East Yorkshire (Mr Knight), I wonder whether the Leader of the House is aware that many retailers sell halal food to their customers without telling them. Further to the request by my right hon. Friend for a debate about food labelling, will the Leader of the House add that issue to any such discussion?

[Sir George Young]

Any debate that we have about food labelling will be broad enough to encompass the specific issue that my hon. Friend has just raised. It strikes me as a suitable subject for a debate in Westminster Hall.

Business of the House

Philip Davies Excerpts

Thursday 28th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am not sure that that is entirely the case. I hope that the hon. Lady will welcome the introduction of the pupil premium, which was designed precisely to target the problem that she has identified: the underachievement of children from poor households. I am sure that the next instalment of questions to the Secretary of State for Education will provide an opportunity for her to raise it, and I will seek to clarify the issue of the extension of the pupil premium to those below the age of five.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

In the light of the comment by the Lord Chief Justice that far too many violent and persistent offenders are getting away with a caution, may we have a statement from the Secretary of State for Justice—as a matter of some urgency—so that we can discover what the Government are doing to address those legitimate concerns, and ensure that those who should be sent to court and to prison are sent to court and to prison rather than getting away with a caution?

[Sir George Young]

As my hon. Friend will know, my right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor is planning to issue a White Paper, or possibly a Green Paper, on sentencing policy. I hope that that will provide a framework for the debate on which my hon. Friend has just launched himself.

Oral Answers to Questions

Philip Davies Excerpts

Monday 25th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Heath]

The right hon. Gentleman says from a sedentary position that he does recognise the word “fiasco”, but the only fiasco I have come across in the course of our debates is the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) speaking for 50 minutes without mentioning his amendments. That may have been part of the problem of timing in relation to the Bill.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

2. What plans he has to increase the opportunities available for debate of Select Committee reports on the Floor of the House.

[The Leader of the House of Commons (Sir George Young)]

Select Committees have been strengthened by the introduction of election procedures for members and Chairs. Powers to set the agenda of the House have also been given to the Backbench Business Committee, which with the Liaison Committee is providing opportunities to debate Select Committee reports in Westminster Hall and on the Floor of the House. Those two measures have increased the ability of the House effectively to hold the Government to account.

[Philip Davies]

The Wright Committee recommended that there should be more opportunities to debate Select Committee reports on the Floor of the House. What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to make that a reality, or is he just leaving that to the Backbench Business Committee?

Business of the House

Philip Davies Excerpts

Thursday 21st October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that question, and I will pass his comments on to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary. In addition, on 16 November he will have an opportunity to put those points to Foreign Office Ministers when they are at the Dispatch Box.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend find time for a debate on the future of the politically correct Equality and Human Rights Commission? In a recent parliamentary answer to me, it emerged that in the past four years the commission has had 25 complaints from its own staff about sex discrimination, race discrimination or disability discrimination. Is it not ludicrous that it is given so much public money to stamp out discrimination across the workplace when it has such a bad record itself, and is it not time that this ridiculous body was abolished?

[Sir George Young]

As always, I welcome my hon. Friend’s robust comments. We will shortly introduce a public bodies Bill following the statement that my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office made last Thursday. If my hon. Friend catches Mr Speaker’s eye during the Second Reading of that Bill, he may find an opportunity to develop at greater length the points that he has made.