Business of the House

John Bercow Excerpts

Thursday 26th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Before I call the shadow Leader of the House, I must emphasise to colleagues that it may not be possible to call everybody today. The Government have put two statements on the agenda before we even get to Back-Bench business, so what is needed is a short question each time and a short reply. I will have to judge when to move on to the next business, because it is Back-Bench business day, not a day for just lobbing statements on to the Order Paper which could have been made at some other time.

[Valerie Vaz]

I thank the Leader of the House for the forthcoming business and support her in sending our congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the safe delivery of their son on St George’s day. And yes, women are very important—we hold up half the sky.

I asked the Leader of the House about allocating time for nurses’ bursaries. Will she allocate time for a debate on that? I thank for her finally allocating time for a debate on the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2018—a matter that was raised as a point of order by my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon). I am sure that the Leader of the House will have heard your words, Mr Speaker, when my hon. Friend did that. You said that it was

“a regrettable state of affairs”

and

“in terms of the smooth running of the House”

does not help to build an

“atmosphere of trust”.—[Official Report, 23 April 2018; Vol. 644, c. 639.]

The changes to the legal aid fees have triggered the barristers’ boycott of new legal aid work. Lawyers are being asked to peruse documents and are not being paid for it. That is part of the evidence bundle. Bizarrely, the Lord Chancellor on Tuesday at Justice questions said that the Government are waiting for information from the Labour party. I am not sure whether he meant that they are waiting for a Labour Government, so that we could then revoke the statutory instrument.

I want to ask the Leader of the House about another small House issue: is it possible to have email alerts for statutory instruments that are published on Fridays? Our hard-working staff have to trawl through all the statutory instruments to see the new ones. They get an email alert for statements, so could we have that for SIs?

The Prime Minister said on the steps of No. 10:

“We will do everything we can to give you more control over your lives”,

but that does not seem to apply to the Windrush generation. Amelia Gentleman, a journalist for The Guardian, publicised in November 2017 the case of Paulette Wilson, who used to cook for us in the House of Commons. She had been here for more than 50 years and was taken to Yarl’s Wood and was about to be deported. Although it was grand having the Home Secretary making her statement in the House, it raised more questions than answers. The Home Office should know who is in detention and must know why they are there.

When will the Government produce these figures? Why are they now waiving the citizenship fee for anyone in the Windrush generation who wishes to apply for citizenship when they are British citizens and do not need to apply, as the Prime Minister repeated over and over again yesterday? Why are the Government saying that they will waive the requirement for them to carry out a test on knowledge of language and life in the UK, when most of the Windrush generation have lived here for years—some for over 50 years—and they speak English? The Government do know how many people are affected, because the Home Office has written to tell them that they have to leave.

May we have a further statement updating the House on all the figures, and on whether the Cabinet Secretary should conduct an inquiry into the Department? What sort of Government throw a net using unassessed policy, rhetoric and ads to catch people who are here legally along with those who are here illegally? What sort of Government throw a net that catches the innocent with the guilty?

But there is more chaos in the Government. In the autumn Budget, the Chancellor promised that councils would be compensated for losses incurred as a result of changes to the “staircase tax”. Days later, a letter was written to council finance officers stating that the Government would not be compensating local authorities for any loss of income caused by the reversal of the tax. On Monday, legislation overturned the tax. May we have a statement on why the Government have U-turned, and are not honouring the expenditure that was committed by the Chancellor?

More chaos: the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union has finally visited the Irish border, but he broke parliamentary protocol by failing to tell the hon. Member for Newry and Armagh (Mickey Brady). He said that it was

“an administrative oversight for which we are happy to apologise.”

Despite his being a prominent member of the leave campaign, that was his first visit.

More chaos: EU negotiators have said that backstop plans to prevent a hard border in Ireland after Brexit will not work. The hon. Member for North East Somerset (Mr Rees-Mogg) has described the Prime Minister’s plan for a “customs partnership” as “completely cretinous”, “impractical, bureaucratic”, and

“a betrayal of common sense”.

Had he said that here, Mr Speaker, you would have been on your feet telling him that it was unparliamentary language.

Will the Leader of the House urge the Prime Minister to visit the border, and has she had a chance to work out when the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will come here from the other place?

I join the Leader of the House in her congratulatory remarks about firsts for women. My hon. Friend the Member for Swansea East (Carolyn Harris) has been elected Welsh Labour deputy leader, in Labour Wales, and I too was delighted to attend the unveiling of the statue of the suffragist Millicent Garrett Fawcett in Parliament Square—the first statue of a woman erected there—by another woman, Gillian Wearing. That was excellent, and we should thank Caroline Criado Perez and the Mayor of London for this important work of public art.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrea Leadsom]

Now we are talking! Rugby is a much better sport than some others that get raised in this place. I only wish that Northampton Saints, my own club, could boast the same proud record. Of course I am delighted to congratulate Pontypool rugby club. Rugby is a fantastic sport. I encourage the hon. Gentleman to seek a debate, and I would be delighted to take part in it.

[Mr Speaker]

I think I get the hint.

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

My constituent Sarbast Hussain was told last year that his application to renew his British passport had been refused. Having fled Saddam’s Iraq before working for the Home Office for 15 years as an interpreter, he has now lost his business, his family are being split up and he is being treated like a criminal. May we have a debate in Government time on the waste of Home Office resource and how this injustice might be addressed?

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I will take remaining contributors as single-sentence inquisitors.

[Grahame Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

I support the request from my hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Chris Elmore) for a debate about universal credit. Notwithstanding the fact that the Leader of the House has been extraordinarily helpful, something like 80% of my constituency caseload is queries about the personal independence payment and universal credit. I know of a young couple with two children whose claim for universal credit was closed because of a missed appointment when the individual concerned was in hospital. I have a whole list of cases, but for reasons of brevity I will not go into them, so may we have a debate on this issue?

[Mr Speaker]

That sounds like a single sentence as practised by James Joyce in “Ulysses”. The last 40 pages of the book are one uninterrupted sentence.

[Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Gentleman has the option to raise individual matters directly with Ministers, as he knows. As for a debate, there have been a number in this place. There will be further opportunities, and I encourage him to seek an Adjournment debate on those specific matters.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Lady raises a very concerning local constituency point, but on the bigger point about affordable housing and social housing, she will be aware that affordable housing is roughly 80% of the normal market cost and social housing roughly 40%. That is the differentiation, but she may seek to raise the matter at oral questions or seek an Adjournment debate to clarify the distinction directly with Ministers.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Alison Thewliss.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I knew you would not forget about me.

Right now, in Glasgow, people are injecting heroin on waste ground and in dirty back lanes and bin shelters. My ten-minute rule Bill, which would amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 to allow for supervised drug consumption facilities, is published today. The proposal is backed by Glasgow City Council and a majority of Members of the Scottish Parliament. May we have a debate in Government time about treating drug misuse as a public health issue?