Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Wednesday 19th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

We have hugely reduced the amount of property that the Government occupy. The overall size of the central estate in 2011 alone fell by nearly 6%; the number of our property holdings fell by 11%; and we sold Admiralty Arch, which is an unsatisfactory office building but will be a very good hotel building. We are making enormous savings. We have achieved total savings of £360 million in annual running costs. If this had started when the Leader of the Opposition had my job, the country would not have been in the mess that we inherited in 2010. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are far too many noisy private conversations taking place in the Chamber. As a result, Members are not attending to the answers that are being given by Minister Maude, and that is unsatisfactory.

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

T2. May I encourage Ministers to work across parties to achieve a strong and robust register of lobbyists, rather than proceed with the proposal which the chair of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations has described as so weak that it is not worth joining?

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[Mr Rob Wilson (Reading East) (Con)]

Trust in the police is an essential part of a just and democratic society. Will the Prime Minister therefore seek—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I apologise for interrupting the hon. Gentleman, but Members must now calm down. Both the questions and the answers must be heard.

[Mr Wilson]

Will the Prime Minister therefore seek personal assurances from the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police that no stone will be left unturned in getting to the full truth about allegations that a serving police officer fabricated evidence against a member of the Cabinet?

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[Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East) (Lab)]

Q11. rose—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Let us have order for Mr David Crausby.

[Mr Crausby]

When the great train robbers stole £2.5 million from Royal Mail, they were sentenced to as many as 30 years in prison. When our bankers get caught fraudulently taking billions of pounds from poor people throughout the world, they just pay large corporate fines and walk away with fat pensions. How can we ever be in anything together as long as we tolerate powerful villains who are too privileged to be put behind bars?

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[Mr Richard Bacon (South Norfolk) (Con)]

rose—[Interruption].

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The House should hear the voice of Bacon.

[Mr Bacon]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Does the Prime Minister agree with the increasing number of informed commentators who believe that the ring-fencing of the investment banking subsidiaries of commercial banks will not work properly, and that complete separation is required?

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[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely good point. He could have added that the Labour Government left a record deficit, saw youth unemployment double, made a complete mess of the economy, and had an open-door immigration system. They have never apologised for any of it.

[Mr Speaker]

Last but not least, I call Tom Clarke.

[Mr Tom Clarke (Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill) (Lab)]

Many people watching our proceedings will be interested in the issue of fuel poverty, but they might be a little confused by the Prime Minister’s reply a few moments ago to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Joan Walley). Will he confirm—let us be transparent—that, as one body has advised, approaching 9 million households suffer from fuel poverty, which is the highest since records began? Will he explain to the House and our constituents, as we approach Christmas, what the Government are prepared to do about the horrible scandal of fuel poverty?