Business of the House

Rosie Winterton Excerpts

Thursday 31st March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

I join the hon. Lady in not only congratulating Charlotte but highlighting the great work that housing associations do up and down this country. They are a great resource for not only advice but support for tenants and residents throughout the country. The hon. Lady is right to highlight that and I join her in congratulating her constituent.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I thank the Leader of the House for answering business questions.

Business of the House

Rosie Winterton Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd March 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Leader of the House of Commons (Mark Spencer)]

I should like to make a short business statement following the announcement by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his spring statement. Tomorrow’s business will now be:

Thursday 24 March—Consideration of a business of the House motion, followed by all stages of the National Insurance Contributions (Increase of Thresholds) Bill.

I shall make a further business statement in the usual way tomorrow.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I call the shadow deputy Leader of the House.

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

I thank the Leader of the House for advance sight of the business statement.

Even after the changes today, under this Government Britain is facing the highest tax burden in 70 years. The Chancellor confirmed today that £24 billion of additional tax rises are about to hit the British people. He is raising taxes again and again. He proclaims that he believes in lower taxes, but at the same time he is actually hiking national insurance contributions.

What provisions has the Leader of the House made for the rescheduling of the two very important Backbench Business debates tomorrow—one on war pensions and armed forces compensation scheme payments, and the other on the impact of long covid on the UK workforce? Will he confirm when the National Insurance Contributions (Increase of Thresholds) Bill will be published on the parliamentary website and copies made available in the Vote Office? What provision will there be for right hon. and hon. Members to amend the Bill?

Business of the House

Rosie Winterton Excerpts

Thursday 10th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Along with my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Dr Offord), she is right to draw the House’s attention to the current London Mayor. Tube strikes bring misery to commuters and people trying to work in London. As my hon. Friend highlights, those strikes came on the back of a promise to have zero days of strike. London is being let down by its current Mayor.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I thank the Leader of the House for his business statement.

Business of the House

Rosie Winterton Excerpts

Thursday 10th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

I am delighted to hear about the extra funding and the reduction in crime in my hon. Friend’s constituency. The Government are committed to bringing down crime rates. We have already recruited 11,000 new police officers, which is over halfway to delivering on the pledge that we made at the last general election. We are giving officers more of the powers that they need to police our streets. My hon. Friend is a huge champion for his constituency, and I am delighted to hear that he is making good progress in fighting crime.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. I encourage colleagues to ask fairly short questions.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I welcome the new Leader of the House. Those of us who are regulars on a Thursday would prefer stimulation rather than soothing, and especially the stimulation of a Leader of the House who believes not in a presidential system run from No. 10 but a parliamentary democracy run here in this place.

On a lighter note, I am wearing my Valentine’s tie with hearts on it because it is Valentine’s day on Monday and we encourage everyone, in this House and outside, to send flowers to Nazanin on Monday. We cannot send them to her directly but they should be sent to the Iranian embassy. Let us build an enormous show of love for Nazanin and sympathy for her predicament on Monday. I hope that the new Leader of the House will join me in that.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mark Spencer]

My hon. Friend’s question highlights the importance of the security services in dealing with hacks in which local authorities have been subject to ransom software. We will continue to do anything we can as a Government to support local authorities or Government agencies to avoid that. On the Vagrancy Act, I am aware of the amendment currently in the House of Lords, which the Government are looking at closely. As soon as we have made a decision on that, I am sure that the House will be updated.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

It should really be one question.

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

I welcome the Leader of the House to his new role. Given that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and, I think, the majority of the British public support the continuation of telemedicine—the Government also had a consultation on it that ended in February 2021—is it not time for an urgent statement from the Department of Health and Social Care about the future for telemedicine? Last week, The Daily Telegraph reported that Ministers had said that they would extend it, but that was not brought to the House of Commons first. It is however the right decision, because it is the healthcare that women in 2022 need and the Abortion Act 1967, which is more than 50 years old, is no longer fit for purpose.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mark Spencer]

The issue is worthy of debate. Many people participate in gambling, and it does them no harm—it is something that they enjoy—but clearly there are people who become addicted. Putting in place safeguards to protect those people and ensure that they are safe from predatory activity is worthy of debate. I wish the hon. Member well in her campaign.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I add my congratulations to the Leader of the House on his new role. I know that it was on the tip of his tongue to wish Doncaster good luck in its bid to be the home of Great British Railways; I am sure that it was just the time constraint that prevented him from doing so. Welcome, Leader of the House.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I hope this is helpful, as it follows on from the earlier questions about the Standards Committee’s current code of conduct review. The consultation ends today, and I know that the Government are close to sending in their own submission. Neither I, nor the Committee, would want any Member of the House to be treated any differently from the public in their submission. Members of the public can make a submission to the consultation online and simply click the box that says, “I would like to remain anonymous”, and that facility is also available to Members.

Alternatively, Members can email me or the Clerk of the Committee. It is helpful for us to know that a submission has come from a Member, but if they wanted to indicate that they would like to remain anonymous, we would undertake to maintain that anonymity when we publish all the responses to the consultation. We really do want to hear everybody’s views as openly as possible. I hope, Madam Deputy Speaker, that you can answer that point of order, which was not really a point of order at all.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I was just about to say that I felt that it was more a public service broadcast than a point of order, but the hon. Gentleman has obviously passed on the information very effectively.

Committee on Standards: Members’ Code of Conduct Review

Rosie Winterton Excerpts

Thursday 3rd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. We have quite a short time for this debate, so I urge Members to take no more than six minutes each.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Bernard Jenkin]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Is there a means by which you could draw to the attention of the SNP spokesman, the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart), that Mr Speaker made a statement in which he explained

“there are means by which accusations of lying may be brought before the House”?—[Official Report, 2 February 2022; Vol. 708, c. 266.]

I do not think the SNP spokesman has read that statement or understood it.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that point of order. He has rather achieved what he set out to achieve, and he has continued the debate.

[Wendy Chamberlain]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. On 31 January, during the Sue Gray update statement, the Prime Minister said the Government

“have been cutting crime by 14%”.—[Official Report, 31 January 2022; Vol. 708, c. 24.]

I understand the Prime Minister took that information from a Home Office news release, which in two places presented the statistics to give a positive picture of trends in crime in England and Wales based on a fall in total crime, excluding fraud and computer misuse, of 17%.

In a letter sent to my right hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael), the UK Statistics Authority confirmed that, if fraud and computer misuse are counted, as they should be, total crime in fact increased by 14% between the year ending September 2019 and the year ending September 2021.

I seek your guidance on how we can get clarity on those remarks from both the Prime Minister and the Home Office.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

I thank the hon. Lady for her point of order. Although the Chair is not responsible for the content of contributions made by Ministers, I am sure the concern has been heard on the Treasury Bench. If an error has been made in this instance, I am sure a Minister will seek to correct it as quickly as possible.

[Sir Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con)]

Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. There is a great deal of interest in statistics. I cannot remember whether the Chancellor or the Cabinet Office is responsible for the Office for National Statistics, but perhaps we could have a Question Time on statistics so that we can bandy around our favourite ones and have them answered by Ministers.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

I thank the Father of the House for that point of order. Luckily, the Leader of the House is sitting in front of him, and I am sure he will have heard his interesting request.

Business of the House

Rosie Winterton Excerpts

Thursday 16th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

Yes, of course, I pass the condolences of the House and my own condolences via my hon. Friend to Mike Fisher. It is indeed with great sadness that we mark the passing of Linda Whetstone. She was chairman of the Atlas Network, an international association of free market think-tanks, and of the Network for a Free Society. She was the daughter of Sir Anthony Fisher, co-founder of the Institute of Economic Affairs, which has to be said is one of the finest think-tanks that there is and an absolute bastion of good sense and thoughtfulness. She followed his legacy as a dear friend of the IEA and member of its board of trustees. She has also served as a board member and president of the Mont Pelerin Society. My hon. Friend quoted what Mark Littlewood said about her, and that shows how greatly she was admired by an important institution in this country, and we pray for the repose of her soul.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I call the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

As always, I am very grateful to you, Madam Deputy Speaker. May I wish you, all Members across the House and all staff in the House, a very happy Christmas, a very peaceful and restful Christmas, and a very happy new year in 2022? We all deserve a better year.

I thank the Leader of the House for the business statement and let him know that we already have pre-allocations for every Thursday in January if we are awarded the time, but that includes, as he has already announced, that important debate on 6 January on Russian grand strategy and a very heavily subscribed set of applications to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day on Thursday 27 January. They are in, and we have pre-allocated that if we are given the time.

I could not help noticing that when we return on Wednesday 5 January, the sitting in the Chamber will begin at 2.30 pm, as it does on Mondays, but the Westminster Hall sitting will begin at 9.30 am, which will make life extremely difficult for those travelling from further afield. Could the Leader of the House look at that as a matter of urgency? I am sure it is just an oversight, but I am thinking particularly of our colleagues in Scotland—members of all parties—who will find it difficult to travel given that 4 January is a bank holiday in Scotland.

Since the inception of the hotel quarantine policy, I have received a number of complaints from my constituents who have been forced to pay significant sums, often at short notice, to return home via hotel quarantine. I readily accept that on public health grounds, but I had hoped that 10 months after the introduction of these measures, the Government would have taken steps to ensure that all hotel quarantine stays were fit for purpose. Many of those constituents who have had no choice but to pay those significant amounts of money have been given very poor provision in return. I was incredibly disappointed to learn just this week that a number of my constituents staying at different hotels around the country have paid thousands of pounds for the privilege, and are still being left without adequate food, access to exercise and fresh air, a laundry service, or even fresh bed linen. One couple paid £3,500 for 10 nights, and had to put up with that sort of provision. May we have a statement so that a Minister can come to the House to explain just what the Government will do to rectify this dire situation? Our constituents are being ripped off and neglected.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. As always, he brings the most important issues to the attention of the House. I understand that the International Migrants Day theme this year is harnessing the potential of human mobility. This country has a long tradition of welcoming those in need of sanctuary, and this will continue. Since 2015, we have resettled more than 25,000 people seeking refuge from persecution across the world. As I said earlier, freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental human right. No one should feel unable to celebrate Christmas or any other holiday for fear of being persecuted. It is clear that many Christians have faced awful persecution in Pakistan, suffering spurious accusations of blasphemy. At Christmas it is vital that we try to ease their plight. I will pass on the hon. Gentleman’s concerns.

On the specific case that he raises, I am afraid the hon. Gentleman knows that I cannot give commitments in individual cases, but I am always willing to help right hon. and hon. Members get answers from the relevant Departments.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I thank the Leader of the House for that statement, and I add my best wishes to right hon. and hon. Members and House staff.

Strengthening Standards in Public Life

Rosie Winterton Excerpts

Wednesday 17th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Thangam Debbonaire]

I wonder whether the hon. Member has actually read the proposal by the Prime Minister. The proposal in the amendment—the only thing that is on offer to vote for today from the Prime Minister—weakens, waters down, takes away the deadline and takes away the vote, and the Leader of the House knows this.

Conservative Members need to accept that the time has now come. Today is the day. They need to stand up and be counted. If they want to follow through on what their Prime Minister said yesterday, they need to vote for the Labour motion today. Will they? We will see.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Before I call the Leader of the House to move the amendment, colleagues will be aware that there are a number of people who wish to contribute to the debate, so it is likely that we will start with a time limit of five minutes on Back-Bench speeches.

--- Later in debate ---

[Pete Wishart]

I am really pleased that I gave way to the hon. Gentleman, because he could assist us in doing that. I know that we are an irritant to him and that he cannot stand us—we in the Scottish National party who speak up for our nation—but there is an easy, elegant, neat solution: you govern yourselves and we will govern ourselves.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order.

[Pete Wishart]

I am sorry—not you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I know that you govern yourself very effectively, but they can govern themselves in all their corrupt, sleazy beauty while we could get on with running a proper, democratic, accountable Scottish Parliament in an independent Scotland. That is the answer to what the hon. Gentleman said.

[Pete Wishart]

I will not—I have given way to the hon. Lady and I have to get on.

We have a real issue with the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, the hon. Member for Moray (Douglas Ross), because he has the very definition of a second job, being both a Member of this House and a Member of the Scottish Parliament. He also has the added complication that he is a part-time assistant referee. His difficulties have only been compounded, and it gives me no pleasure to say this, because he did not properly declare the considerable sum—

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order. I do hope that the hon. Gentleman has given notice that he intends to talk about another Member in his speech.

[Pete Wishart]

I most definitely did, Madam Deputy Speaker. I assure you that I would never mention an hon. Member without giving them notice in advance that I intended to raise the issue.

The hon. Member for Moray has the very definition of a second job. It is simply impossible for him to give his full attention to his constituents as their MP—as the Prime Minister now demands from Conservative MPs—when he needs to be in the Scottish Parliament as the leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

Let me give an example: the good people of Moray were not represented in the Finance Bill vote last night. The hon. Gentleman simply was not here. He had to be some place else, quite legitimately, in another job. He has to decide—on the strictures of the Prime Minister, who said this—whether he can be a full-time Member of Parliament and represent his constituents full time in this House or be the leader of the Scottish Conservatives in the Scottish Parliament. He cannot do both. He is not here now—I know he is probably in the Scottish Parliament; he might not be, but he has First Minister’s questions tomorrow when he will have to be there—but I say him to him very candidly that he should decide which Parliament he wants to be part of, because it is quite clear that he cannot do both, and I think his Prime Minister recognises that.

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. We will start with a time limit of six minutes, which may well have to come down. Of course, there is no obligation to take the whole six minutes.

--- Later in debate ---

[Taiwo Owatemi (Coventry North West) (Lab)]

On the issue of Ministers breaking the code, last weekend The Sunday Times wrote about a Transport Minister who allegedly misused taxpayers’ money?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Has the hon. Lady notified the Member concerned that she will be referring to them?

[Taiwo Owatemi]

Sorry, he is a Secretary of State.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

But has she notified the Member that she will be referring to them?

[Taiwo Owatemi]

I should have done that. I will double check.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Okay. The hon. Lady needs to be quite careful about how she approaches it then.

[Taiwo Owatemi]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Last Sunday, The Sunday Times reported that the Transport Secretary misused taxpayers’ money by blocking the redevelopment of airfields. This would affect my local airfield in Coventry, which is meant to be redeveloped as a gigafactory that would bring thousands of jobs to my city of Coventry. Does my hon. Friend agree that senior Conservative Ministers should spend less time abusing their position and more—

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order. I think that we have got the point.

[Catherine McKinnell]

I think that we could all raise example upon example of this Government’s saying, “Do as I say but not as I do”, and not following through on their promises.

It is difficult to imagine 10 or 20 years ago a Government unlawfully proroguing Parliament without even the Prime Minister and the Leader of the House resigning, or at least having the decency to admit that they were wrong. It is unclear what the Prime Minister thinks that he, his Ministers and sometimes his MPs should be held accountable for, if anything at all. For our system of accountability to work, we need the Government to be open and willing to learn from their mistakes. The deterioration in standards that is happening under this Government is not only morally wrong; it is the opposite of good governance. Covering for incompetence or corruption—and sometimes both simultaneously—can only lead to poor leadership and bad policy, which harms the people we are elected to represent. The scapegoating of unelected officials when things go wrong must stop.

My hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), the Chair of the Standards Committee, put it well last week when he reminded the House that parliamentary democracy in its present form has not been around for long at all. It is fragile and precious, and must be protected from Governments who seek to undermine it for their own short-term gain. The Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Lord Evans, clearly anticipated this danger when he said:

“The risk is that we think it couldn’t possibly happen in this country. The fact is it could, and that is why we need to make sure we don’t take decisions which would lead us in the wrong direction”.

I will finish by quoting President Lyndon Johnson, who famously said, “It takes a carpenter to build a barn, but any jackass can knock it down”. I know that I am not alone in my deep concerns about the long-term impact on our democracy of a Government who all too frequently act with no sense of decency, dignity or shame.

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. Before we move on, I am trying to ensure that everybody gets six minutes. I need to point out that while I have no objection to people taking interventions, if they still stick to the six minutes it means that others will be able to get equal time. I also urge those who have already spoken to bear in mind that, if they make further interventions, they are reducing others’ time. Obviously, some Members have made a number of interventions. Just bear in mind that we are trying to make it fair for everybody.

Business of the House

Rosie Winterton Excerpts

Thursday 21st October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing this concerning matter to the attention of the House. The Government are concerned about the recent violence directed against Hindu Durga Puja celebrations across various districts in Bangladesh. Her Majesty’s Government continue to engage with the Government of Bangladesh on the importance of freedom of religion or belief, which remains a priority for the UK Government. I am glad to be able to inform my hon. Friend that the British high commissioner to Bangladesh has publicly expressed his concern and his condolences to the victims of violence, and the UK’s support for those working for religious tolerance and harmony in Bangladesh and around the world. In addition to that, I will pass on my hon. Friend’s comments to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I call the Scottish National party spokesman, Pete Wishart.

[Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire) (SNP)]

Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker.

This has been a rotten first week back, and I think we are all still struggling to come to terms with and comprehend all the issues surrounding the killing of our friend and colleague David Amess, as well as grieving for the loss of James Brokenshire. The Leader of the House was absolutely right to pay those further tributes. I have been doing this job for nearly six years, and I think that missing Sir David at business questions is something we all feel profoundly today. Let us hope that we never have another week like this one.

Many of us will be leaving to return to our constituencies in the next 24 hours with a greater sense of anxiety, and a greater sense of the responsibility that we all feel for the staff who work with us. I think that what Members are looking for more than anything else is clear advice, bordering on instruction, about how we should do our business in our constituencies. We were grateful for last night’s statement from the Home Secretary, but will the Leader of the House commit himself to further statements, and ongoing information and clear advice from the police and the security services, to acquaint Members with what we can do to keep ourselves and our staff safe?

Another safety issue has arisen on our return: the ongoing comic appearance in this place of those on one side of the House wearing masks and those on the other side not wearing them at all. Yesterday the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said that we should wear them in crowded and enclosed places. He even went so far as to say that Members of Parliament should be setting an example by wearing them, so come on, for goodness’ sake—set that example! I am looking around the Chamber now, and I am looking at my Conservative colleagues. I do not like picking on them, because I consider that so unnecessary, but I think that four out of 14 are wearing masks this morning. That is a little bit better than what we saw before the conference recess, but we must do better than this. We are going to be back with compulsory mask-wearing, we are going to be back with further restrictions—we are going to follow the countries of mainland Europe, because we are way ahead in terms of infections. We are going to have to do something, so let us do it now. Let us set that example.

Mr Speaker was absolutely right to castigate the Government this morning for making major policy announcements outside the House. Today we are in a ridiculous situation: there will be an urgent question and a statement on the same topic. That cannot happen again. Indeed, I would go further: I would bring the Secretaries of State or other Ministers responsible for this to the Bar of the House to apologise for their disrespect if they dare to make announcements outside this Chamber.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

There is a real difficulty in this, in that we need to improve connectivity. When I am at home in Somerset and my mobile signal gives out again, I begin to think, “Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a 5G mast not so far away, so that I could actually get some signal?” On the other hand, local communities need to be consulted and we need to take people with us as the systems are rolled out. Therefore, it is all about getting the balance right. We do not want to hold back business or communications, but, equally, we want to reassure communities.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I thank the Leader of the House for the business statement.

Business of the House

Rosie Winterton Excerpts

Thursday 23rd September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

A constituent came to me recently, very distressed. Her young son was attacked at a community event about two years ago. The perpetrator was arrested and charged by the Crown Prosecution Service. He then reportedly failed to appear in court twice, was arrested a second time, and appeared in court for the third hearing. However, the Crown Prosecution Service erroneously, and wrongly, said that the case had been timed out—which it has admitted in writing was a mistake—and the perpetrator therefore got away with not being fully pursued. Because this was not publicly known, he went on to be selected as a candidate and subsequently elected to Crawley Borough Council in last May’s local elections. May we have a debate on why this perpetrator, Atif Nawaz, was able to do that, on why the victim was failed by the Crown Prosecution Service, and on the efficiency of the CPS?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. We need to have brisker questions, otherwise we will not get through everybody.

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am obviously not aware of the full details of that case, but I understand that the CPS has accepted that it made an error in the handling of the case and apologised to my hon. Friend’s constituent. I recognise, however, that an apology in these circumstances does not go very far. The CPS is ensuring that advocates in the south-east area receive training to prevent a similar error from happening again, but I would urge my hon. Friend to write to the Attorney General about this case if he has not already done so, as she oversees the work of the Crown Prosecution Service. Equally, I would be happy to take it up with the Attorney General on his behalf.

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Having previously called two consecutive Opposition Members, I will now call a second Conservative Member.

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

We need to speed up a little, in both questions and answers, if we are to get everybody in, as I would like.

[Alexander Stafford (Rother Valley) (Con)]

I know the Leader of the House is an avid reader of the Worksop Guardian, so he will have been astounded to find out that South Yorkshire police underspent their budget by £2 million. Does he agree that the Labour police and crime commissioner has no excuse not to reopen Dinnington police station, which was closed to save £14,000 a year? Can we have a debate in Government time to ensure that happens?

--- Later in debate ---

[Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)]

I have previously raised in the House my concerns and those of my constituents about the decision by Warrington Borough Council to borrow £1.6 billion to invest in business around the UK. One of those businesses is a domestic energy supplier, Together Energy. The total exposure for taxpayers in Warrington is £41 million, and we are seeing what is happening in the energy sector. Will the Leader of the House schedule a debate in Government time on the decisions that councils are taking, so that we can have absolutely clear transparency? Does he agree that action of this type is absolutely irresponsible?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. We must have shorter questions.

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend raises a point of concern. When I served on the Treasury Committee some years ago, I tried to encourage its then Chairman, my noble Friend Lord Tyrie, to hold an inquiry into the borrowing by councils of money for speculative investments, which is obviously a risk. I am glad to tell my hon. Friend that on 28 July the Government published plans to strengthen the capital framework to prevent councils from taking on excessive risk. That must be the right thing to do.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I cannot promise the debate, though I may guide the hon. Lady towards an Adjournment debate in relation to Mr Smith. I will take up the case that she has brought to my attention with the Foreign Office immediately after this session.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I thank the Leader of the House for the Business statement.

We come now to the Backbench Business debates, the first of which is on Baby Loss Awareness Week. As colleagues will see, the two debates are well subscribed. I hope that they will bear that in mind when considering how long they will speak for.

Committee on Standards

Rosie Winterton Excerpts

Monday 28th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

As a recently appointed member of the Committee on Standards, I welcome this appointment. Elected Members of this Parliament are already expected to meet high standards in public life, as defined by the Nolan principles, and to adhere to the House of Commons code of conduct and related rules of the House. It cannot be right for MPs alone to be the sole adjudicators and decision makers on whether other elected Members—who may be friends, political colleagues or indeed political adversaries —may be in breach of the code of conduct. That would, I believe, be totally unacceptable to the public whom we are all elected to represent and serve.

From my limited experience on the Committee, I can say that the contribution of the current lay members is exceptional: they bring a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience of public life at a senior level across a diverse range of sectors. Lay members also bring a fresh perspective that is not clouded by political affiliations or party loyalties. Their independent and impartial status allows them to focus on the circumstances and the evidence in individual cases. They are therefore crucial to maintaining transparency, confidence and trust in the Committee’s work and decision making.

From what I know of Ms Mian from her curriculum vitae, her previous experience and involvement in public life will enhance and complement that of the existing lay members, and she would make an excellent addition to the lay membership of the Committee. I understand that she has been through a thorough and rigorous selection process and is recommended for appointment by those responsible for carrying out that process.

This appointment will bring the number of lay members up to the full complement of seven, equal to the number of MPs on the Committee, and will enhance the diversity of the Committee. I therefore fully support the appointment.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I call the Chair of the Committee on Standards.