Functioning of Government
Debate between Sam Tarry and Michael Ellis(2 years, 4 months ago)
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Michael Ellis
There is a business of the House statement in the usual way, and the hon. Member will be able to ask that question of the Leader of the House of Commons.
Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)
The Minister speaks about responsible government, yet we have had nearly three years of totally irresponsible government. My constituents are suffering massively. Surely the moral thing to do is not to look to the constitution, but to go to the country, call a general election and let the people of this country decide—not just on the Prime Minister, but on the rotten lot of bankrupt Government we have had for the past two and a half years since the last election. This is not about the constitution; it is about what the people of this country need. That is responsible government, and they are not going to get it from his side, even with a change of Prime Minister.
Michael Ellis
The business of government will continue functioning as the public would expect it to do. I reject the characterisation that the hon. Member makes, and I suspect that the vast majority of the general public in this country would also reject that characterisation.
Downing Street Garden Event
Debate between Sam Tarry and Michael Ellis(2 years, 10 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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Michael Ellis
The hon. Gentleman makes those accusations; they are not supported by the evidence and he should wait to see what the result of the investigation is. The Prime Minister acknowledges the importance of the Nolan principles in public life and he adheres to them.
Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)
In December, the Prime Minister said:
“I can understand how infuriating it must be to think that the people who have been setting the rules have not been following the rules, because I was also furious”.—[Official Report, 8 December 2021; Vol. 705, c. 371.]
I can only imagine that his own Cabinet and Ministers must be furious, given that so few of them have showed up here today—supporting him in the same way perhaps that a rope supports a hanging man. I will tell the Minister who else was furious: my constituents—churchgoers unable to go to church at Easter; Muslims unable to go to the mosque and celebrate Eid with their families; and my local Muslim burial ground in Redbridge, at times unable to dig the graves fast enough to put the bodies in. When will the Prime Minister use his next address to the nation to apologise to each and every one of those families for his disgraceful rule breaking, which not only has left this Government devoid of any support among the British public but is harming our democracy itself?
Michael Ellis
I have already said, and I will repeat, that those who were unable to celebrate the high holy days of their religion suffered a terrible imposition, whether that was at Easter for the Christian community, Eid or Passover. One can only express sorrow that that has had to happen, but it has had to happen in countries around the world because of the exigencies of the pandemic. The Prime Minister is carrying on the business of government, as my fellow Ministers are, and will continue to do so.