John Bercow
Main Page: John Bercow (Speaker - Buckingham)Department Debates - View all John Bercow's debates with the Scotland Office
(9 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Carmichael
The hon. Gentleman and the First Minister must both be aware that National Grid has a constant process of reviewing energy supply. The system operators in Scotland have stress-tested 140 scenarios in which Longannet and other Scottish fossil fuel generators were closed, and National Grid has the tools to keep the lights on in every one of those scenarios, including by being resilient against one-in-600-year risks. Those are the facts, and they are preferable to the sort of scaremongering that we hear from the nationalists.
Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)
But is the Secretary of State satisfied that the capacity of the electricity interconnector between Scotland and England is sufficient and will not act as a brake on competition in the supply and generating markets?
Mr Carmichael
I think that is quite remarkable. The whole point of devolution is to allow the Scottish Government to do things differently. We devolved stamp duty land tax under the 2012 Act. They came forward with something that was different until this Government introduced a new system, when before we knew it they had changed to follow what was happening in the rest of the United Kingdom.
Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)
6. For what proportion of participants in the Work programme in Scotland job outcome payments have been made to providers of that programme.
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr Alistair Carmichael)
The Scotland Office is holding a series of events across Scotland to enable stakeholders to provide feedback on the draft clauses and how the new powers might be used. I can announce to the House today that the Government will now begin a public information campaign to enable people in Scotland to learn more about the devolution settlement and how it is changing. [Interruption.] This campaign will use social media, local media and an information booklet for every house in Scotland. [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. There is a lot of noise in the Chamber. The House and perhaps the nation should hear Mr Christopher Chope.
Mr Chope
The nation would be interested to know that draft clause 1 has been widely condemned as legally vacuous. What is the Secretary of State going to do to ensure that the people of Scotland realise that it is legally vacuous and that if they support it, they will be supporting a meaningless constitutional proposal?
Mr Alan Reid (Argyll and Bute) (LD)
Thank you, Mr Speaker. The out of touch House of Lords Constitution Committee has said that not enough thought has been given to the impact of giving 16 and 17-year-olds the vote. I hope the Government will reject this recommendation and give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to have their say on who represents them in the Scottish Parliament.
Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire) (SNP)
As we await the dualling of the A1, has the Minister heard of the success of the average speed cameras on the A9? Accidents have been cut by 97%, speeding is down by 90% and the road experience has been totally transformed. Will he now get his right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to abandon his reckless and irresponsible campaign to take those cameras down and put my constituents at risk once again?
Mr Speaker
Order. I think I was very generous. The hon. Gentleman started banging on about the A9, rather than the A1, but we will let him off on this occasion.
David Mundell
It is worse than that, Mr Speaker. We constantly hear complaints from the hon. Gentleman about this place intruding into the affairs of the Scottish Parliament, and yet he raises an issue that is solely the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament.
Edward Miliband
The Prime Minister does not rule out further change, and he has a chance to vote for change tonight. This is what he wrote in 2009:
“Being a Member of Parliament”—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. The questions will be heard, and the answers will be heard. It is a very simple point, which I hope everyone can grasp.
Edward Miliband
This is what he wrote in 2009:
“Being a Member of Parliament must be a full-time commitment…The public deserves nothing less.”
He went on to say:
“Double-jobbing MPs won’t get a look-in when I’m in charge”.
What has changed?
Mr Speaker
Order. Mr Efford, calm yourself. I fear you are about to explode, man. Get a grip. We must hear the answer from the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister
That is not the only problem with the right hon. Gentleman’s proposal. Let me take another problem with the proposal—his cap on earnings. Let me take a specific example—[Interruption.] I have got as long as it takes.
Let me take a very specific example. The hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Tristram Hunt), who is Labour’s education spokesman, would have last year earned over a 10% cap from being a college lecturer. I happen to think that is a very good thing: he brings to this House some outside experience, and he tops up that experience. I have to say it is a pity it does not show up in his education policy, but none the less, it is a good thing.
Fundamentally, there is a disagreement between the right hon. Gentleman and me. I think Parliament is stronger when we have people with different experiences coming to our House, but we must impose strict rules and punish people when they get it wrong.
Mike Crockart
Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank hon. Members for their welcome.
I have harangued the Prime Minister on many occasions to do more on nuisance calls, so it is right today that I thank the Government for the announcement that was made on the subject by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport this morning. Of course, vulnerable consumers will still be targeted today and tomorrow by vicious scammers, who will pay no heed to the announcement. I therefore ask him politely to do all he can to help me set up a national call blocking scheme to protect vulnerable consumers in his constituency and in mine.
Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)
Last week, three young women from my constituency left their homes, travelled to Turkey—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. I think we will start this question again. The hon. Lady has an extremely serious question to ask, and it must be heard by Members on both sides of the House with courtesy.
Rushanara Ali
Last week, three young women from my constituency left their homes, travelled to Turkey and are now thought to have been smuggled into Syria. Their families are devastated. I know that the Prime Minister is making every effort to find them and encourage their return. Will he set up an urgent inquiry into these events to ensure that families, schools, mosques, youth clubs, internet companies and all agencies are guided on how they can better protect our young people?
Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)
May I assure my right hon. Friend—[Interruption.]
Sir Peter Tapsell
May I assure my right hon. Friend that I am not a paid trade union official but I fear that if Members of the House are not allowed a second job, membership of it will soon be largely confined to the inheritors of substantial fortunes or to those with rich spouses, or to obsessive crackpots or those who are unemployable anywhere else?
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
Q10. I know the Prime Minister shares my enthusiastic support for organ donation and my joy at the 63% increase in what is the most wonderful gift that anyone can give since the organ donation task force reported in 2008—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. I apologise for interrupting the hon. Gentleman. It is discourteous to interrupt an hon. Member in the middle of his or her question. Let us hear what the hon. Gentleman has to say: it is a matter of manners.