EU Funding (Rotherham and Barnsley)

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 1st July 2013 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I think that the Minister was suggesting that I had misled the House, when in fact what I had told him was that the patterns of actual spend in the European regional development fund funding for the final years of this current programme are broadly similar right across the range and have not sharply dropped as the original plan envisaged.

[Mr Speaker]

I was listening and I thought the Minister was saying that he did not want the House to be misled. I am sure that he would not accuse any Member of misleading the House, because he would be in breach of our procedures if he did. The Minister was not suggesting that, was he?

[Michael Fallon]

I certainly was not, Mr Speaker. I just wanted to make it absolutely clear that in each of the past three years the allocation has been €20 million and for each of the next seven years it will be €23 million. I cannot call that a cut, and if other colleagues can, I am extremely puzzled.