Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Thursday 18th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Who supported the nationalisation of rail?

[Mr Speaker]

We are grateful for that.

[Mr Robert Buckland (South Swindon) (Con)]

3. What recent progress his Department has made on rail electrification.

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[Mr McLoughlin]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Let us stick to the west coast main line.

[Mr McLoughlin]

In the light of that direction, Mr Speaker, I am not sure how to answer the question. I am responsible for what goes on at the Department of Transport, but if I moved on to the money that was wasted by the previous Government, I think I might need an Adjournment debate.

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[Norman Baker]

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to that matter, which was one reason why we produced the “Green Light for Light Rail” report. We have made progress through the two summits that I have held subsequently towards more proportionate standards for light rail, which should bring the costs down while ensuring that safety is maintained.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Sir Alan Beith. Not here.

[Mr Lee Scott (Ilford North) (Con)]

13. What steps he is taking to address careless driving.

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[Stephen Hammond]

My hon. Friend is, as ever, generous in his remarks of welcome. His invitation is equally generous, and I do not think I can refuse it.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mr Graham Evans. Not here.

[Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

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[Mrs Grant]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. The one-size-fits-all approach to unemployment has clearly failed. We need local providers to deliver good, innovative local services. We should be pleased that, in 2010-11, the highest number of black and minority ethnic apprentices started their training. Michael Gove’s reforms will be key to that, and I very much look forward to seeing them coming to fruition.

[Mr Speaker]

I am sure the Minister was referring to the Secretary of State for Education.

[Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)]

3. What recent discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on the effects of tax and benefit changes on women and their families.

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[Jo Swinson]

I am not convinced that I am the best-placed person to talk about one nation Toryism, but I can reassure the hon. Gentleman that the cost of the cut to the top rate of tax is dwarfed by the large amount of money that we are putting in to the tax cut for people on low incomes. Sixty per cent. of gainers from that are women.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The Minister has interpreted the question liberally and democratically, as one might have expected.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

4. What steps she is taking to encourage more women to become entrepreneurs.

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Maria Miller)]

With permission, Mr Speaker, I shall answer questions 4 and 9 together. The majority women-led small and medium-sized enterprises already—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I apologise for interrupting the right hon. Lady, but we cannot have Ministers grouping questions on the hoof. There was no advanced notice of this intended grouping, and therefore, I am afraid it does not apply. If a mess of the matter was made, that is regrettable, but that is the Minister’s responsibility, not mine.

[Maria Miller]

Thank you for that guidance, Mr Speaker.

The majority of women-led SMEs already contribute about £50 billion annually to the UK economy. We are building on that by promoting an entrepreneurial culture in schools and by identifying female role models and mentors. We also have a range of business support and access-to-finance schemes open to all entrepreneurs, male and female.

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[Mr Speaker]

In the spirit of equality, I certainly would not wish to exclude the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies). Let us hear from him.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Rather than having politically correct targets, is it not better for companies in the private sector to decide for themselves who are the right people to be on their boards, irrespective of gender, race or religion? Should not all such appointments be made on merit, rather than trying to meet the politically correct targets that the Minister has referred to?

West Coast Main Line

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 15th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

As I do not want to incur your wrath, Mr Speaker, perhaps I should refer my right hon. Friend to the answer that I gave to the right hon. Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Frank Dobson) a few moments ago. I also addressed this issue in one of my first major speeches, in which I outlined the importance of this particular piece of infrastructure to the United Kingdom.

[Mr Speaker]

I am always very interested to hear what the Secretary of State has to say on this subject, as he will readily appreciate.

Rail Investment

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 16th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for early sight of her statement, most of which, of course, we read in the newspapers over the weekend and this morning.

What we have just heard is a list of rail investment projects that were announced by the last Government—[Interruption.] It is true. They were announced by the last Government, but they will have to be delivered by the next one. We were promised £9 billion of new investment, but, as we have heard today, the reality is a plan for just £4.2 billion of new rail schemes over five years—less than half the amount that was spun to the media in advance of today’s statement to the House. Of the rest—the other £5.2 billion—more than half is simply confirmation that schemes already under way will not be cancelled halfway through, including Crossrail, Thameslink, the electrification of the Great Western main line, and the electrification in the north-west and across the Pennines, all schemes announced by my noble Friend Lord Adonis as Secretary of State for Transport in 2009.

Even many of the supposedly new projects which make up the remaining £4.2 billion are not so new after all, such as electrification of the midland main line, for which development of the economic case was announced by Lord Adonis, and to which we committed at the last election. Today’s U-turn on the Great Western main line is an acceptance that we were right to commit to completing electrification all the way to Swansea, a decision the Secretary of State and her predecessor have spent two years saying had no business case or economic benefit, when it plainly did. I welcome that U-turn; it is a victory for the Labour Government in Wales.

It is right for the Government to commit to completing the northern hub. That is vital to improve connectivity and capacity between our northern cities. However, instead of that being promised for after the next election, we could have made further progress with the scheme in this Parliament. However, the Government chose to cut investment in this spending period by £1.2 billion, according to Network Rail’s latest delivery plan update for the current control period, CP 4. It says that that has led to deferrals to CP 5, the period covered by today’s announcement. So we have cuts in this Parliament replaced by promises for the next. As the Select Committee on Transport has discovered, the entire northern hub could have been funded this year just from the Department’s underspend, but the Secretary of State instead chose to hand that money back to the Treasury.

We have also had confirmation today that the Government are determined to press ahead with hiking rail fares by up to 11% in each of the next two years, on top of January’s fare rises of up to 13%. The misery for passengers is not to stop there: we discover from the tender documents for the new franchises that bidders are being assured they can then go on imposing eye-watering fare rises of up to 8% every year. That means more than a decade to come of investment-busting fare rises.

Will the Secretary of State confirm how much lower investment in enhancement schemes, greater capacity and electrification will be in control period 5 than in control period 4? Can she confirm when work will begin on the ground, actually delivering jobs from each of the schemes that have yet to get under way? Will she update the House on the significant delays in completing the contractual negotiations for Thameslink rolling stock and the intercity express programme? Will she confirm that she has approved a cut in the planned order of new intercity trains from 1,400, as planned by Labour, to fewer than 600?

When will we see the results of the review into train procurement that was promised following the fiasco of awarding the Thameslink contract to a company that will build the trains in Germany? With long-term youth unemployment having trebled in the last year, what steps are the Government taking to ensure that young people benefit from the investment through apprenticeships and jobs? Will the Secretary of State confirm that Network Rail’s debt, now standing at £27 billion, is set to increase to £33 billion by the end of this control period? How much will that have risen to by the end of 2019, as a result of today’s announcement?

On Network Rail, will the Secretary of State join me in condemning the decision to again propose a bonus scheme that will see senior managers handed £300,000 each, apparently because they have said they will walk away if they do not get it, and then a wider bonus scheme that could cost taxpayers £11.7 million? Can she confirm that, as she threatened last time, she will turn up to this Thursday’s annual general meeting and vote against that package, and if not, why not?

In the light of the commitments made to improve rail links to Heathrow, when will the aviation industry actually be allowed to submit evidence to the Department on the country’s medium-term and long-term aviation capacity needs, or do we have this lack of joined-up policy making because we are awaiting the next Government reshuffle?

Finally—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are extremely grateful to the hon. Lady, but she has now well and truly had her time. I have been watching the clock very closely, the Secretary of State was within time and we must now move on. The Secretary of State will respond and then we will take Back Benchers.

[Justine Greening]

I have to say that many people watching this will be amazed at the hon. Lady—rather than looking at the glass 95% full, she seems to be looking at it 5% empty. The bottom line is that the Labour Government had 13 years to crack on with this, so if they did not get to do it, they have only themselves to blame. We are in government and we are taking our opportunity to improve our railway system for our people.

I am delighted that it is a coalition Government who have finally delivered on that programme of transformation for the Welsh railways. It will make a huge difference to the Welsh economy, and I am delighted that we have been able to announce it today. I can assure the hon. Lady that we are looking at whether we can advance some elements of the investment earlier—of course we are. In fact, that comes on the back of a huge amount of work already under way across the industry, be it the work happening at Reading station, Peterborough station and Birmingham station, which is having a huge refit; the work on Crossrail and Thameslink; or the work we have just finished at St Pancras.

The hon. Lady talked about the intercity express programme, and we are making good progress in those negotiations. She will be aware that, as and when Hitachi is able to start building those trains, it will open a brand new depot in the north-east, which will create several hundred jobs. I very much hope that it will be the beginning of a story for that region in the coming years that mirrors the one people have seen in the automobile industry.

The hon. Lady asked about apprenticeships and jobs. Network Rail is playing its role in developing a skilled British work force through recruitment and development. It is taking on 200 new apprentices annually on a three-year programme, and there is now a graduate programme in place, which took about 150 people in 2011. It is also funding an industry-wide track and train programme to give opportunities to unemployed graduates, offering three six-month placements with different organisations. I got to meet some of those graduates earlier this year, and it was outstanding to see them and the opportunities they have been presented with. So a huge amount of effort is already going on in the industry. Today’s announcement will complement that and give the industry the pipeline for the future which will allow it to invest not only in its own companies, but in the supply chain that we so badly need to make sure that that work can be supported.

The hon. Lady asked about Network Rail bonuses. Well, you know what, I am the first Secretary of State for Transport who has ever expressed an opinion on them, so I do not need to take any lectures from the ex-Government, who set up Network Rail and then proceeded to spend the whole time complaining about how it ran itself. It is putting in place its new governance structure, which will be a more responsible one than that set up for it by the Labour Government. It beggars belief that, on a day when we announced such an historic investment, all the Opposition can do is carp from the sidelines. However, I suspect that while that is their strategy they will remain exactly where they are now: on the sidelines.

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I remind the House that, in accordance with convention, Members who entered the Chamber after the Secretary of State began her statement should not be seeking to catch my eye. It is also obvious that there is very widespread interest in this subject—understandably so—which I am keen to accommodate, but Members will also be aware that there are two Opposition-day debates to follow. Therefore, there is a premium on brevity from Back Benchers and Front Benchers alike.

[Mr John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con)]

Over the past two years Network Rail has announced losses of £344 million on its very large derivatives book, so would not a better way of spending that money be to have a national programme to replace dangerous level crossings with bridges and underpasses—and could that start in Wokingham, please?

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[Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)]

Will the Secretary of State make sure that the electrified midland main line connects to the first phase of High Speed 2, so that Yorkshire gets classic compatible trains running fast from London via Birmingham to Yorkshire just as quickly as Manchester? Will she reflect on her claim that only 10 miles of track was electrified under Labour? After all, High Speed 1 from the channel tunnel to London, a brand-new electric line, was built when Labour was in power.

[Mr Speaker]

I gently say to the hon. Gentleman, for whom I have the highest regard and affection, that if he is going to ask a question about High Speed, there is real merit in asking a high-speed question. From now on, we need short questions and short answers. I say that in the interests of colleagues whom we wish to accommodate.

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman raised the question with me only last week in a meeting that I had with him on High Speed 2. As I said to him then, there are some challenges in doing as he suggests, but one of the most important aspects of the High Speed 2 business case is to ensure that as many communities as possible are connected up with it, and that we do that as soon as possible. I have no doubt that we will continue to look at whether those options are available to us and we can progress them. In the meantime the great news for him is that we will see High Speed coming up to his part of the country and it will hugely benefit his community when it gets there.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Thursday 28th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

This Government and our decisions are having a major impact. I do not need to take any lectures or lessons from the Labour party, which had a failed aviation strategy, no rail strategy at all and made absolutely no investment on the roads compared with what we are putting in. Frankly, the brass neck of it is unbelievable. We are getting on with building our country for the future in a way that the previous Government never did. We are investing more and we will do more. I look forward to hearing him congratulate us when we do.

[Mr Speaker]

I hear the Secretary of State’s message but we have a lot of questions to get through.

[Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West) (Lab)]

6. What steps her Department is taking to improve cycling safety.

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[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We now come to question 8— [Interruption.]—or even 9.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

9. What steps she is taking to support motorists and the haulage industry; and if she will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Justine Greening)]

I have taken a number of steps to reduce motorists’ costs. We are working with the Ministry of Justice to tackle the cost of insurance fraud, including fraudulent whiplash claims. We are working with the fuel industry to ensure the transparency of fuel costs and that wholesale price reductions are passed on. We have halved the tolls on the Humber bridge. We are working with the Motorists Forum on improving garage experiences for consumers, and as well as freezing fees for MOTs, driving tests and licensing, in the logistics growth review we supported £1 billion of further investment to improve the capacity and resilience of the strategic roads network.

[Mr Speaker]

We knew it would be worth waiting for.

[Robert Halfon]

Thousands of hard-pressed motorists, and me, are so excited that the Government cut fuel duty this week that I lost my train of thought as another Labour tax rise was cancelled.

I thank the Secretary of State for her outspoken support and for the pressure she has put on oil companies to bear their share of responsibility for the high price of petrol and diesel at the pumps. Will she carry on putting that pressure on oil companies to ease the pressures on motorists?

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[Mr Speaker]

It is still T2, but we are grateful to the hon. Gentleman. Mr Sheerman has withdrawn his question T1.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Justine Greening)]

It has been a busy couple of months in the Department for Transport. We have announced our plans to work with petrol retailers to get a better deal for motorists at the pump. We have helped local authorities to unlock economic growth with our £266 million local sustainable transport fund announcement. We have set out the next steps for attracting greater investment in the strategic road network, issuing rail franchise consultations on the inter-city east coast and south-eastern franchises. With other Government Departments, we are working extremely hard to put in place the final planning and preparations to make sure that we host a fantastic Olympic and Paralympic games this summer.

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The Minister for Women and Equalities was asked—

[Mr Speaker]

Gerry Sutcliffe? Not here.

[Gemma Doyle (West Dunbartonshire) (Lab/Co-op)]

2. What assessment she has made of the cumulative effect of welfare reform legislation on disabled people.

Cost of Living

John Bercow Excerpts

Wednesday 16th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I inform the House that I have selected the amendment in the name of Mr Edward Miliband.

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[Caroline Flint]

Could I first answer the question from the hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Angie Bray)?

The truth is that the leader of the Labour party, when he was Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, did start to tackle the discussion about the energy market. He said that we should have a pool, and that was in our manifesto. He also undertook to look at better ways in which we could provide for energy efficiency, and I will come to those shortly. In government, we had a good record of helping people with their bills. Millions of people were helped by Warm Front and millions of pensioners were helped by the winter fuel payments. What are this Government doing to help people with that? [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is an excessive amount of noise in the Chamber. It would be good if the issues could be aired in an orderly manner. I am grateful for the assent to that proposition from so experienced and senior a denizen of the House as the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Mr Leigh), who is himself setting an excellent example that others could follow.

[Caroline Flint]

I am always pleased to talk about Labour’s record in government, but let us now talk about the other side of the debate about energy prices—that is, saving energy. As Ministers are fond of telling us, the cheapest energy is the energy that we do not use. I am very proud that over 2 million households were helped with energy efficiency and insulation under the previous Labour Government. Through Warm Front, we helped over 200,000 households each and every year. This year, only 40,000 people are getting help.

The last time we debated this matter, the Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker), said:

“Warm Front does not deliver insulation”.—[Official Report, 11 January 2012; Vol. 538, c. 256.]

He obviously had not browsed his Department’s website, which states clearly:

“The Warm Front scheme offers a package of heating and insulation measures”.

With such insight into his Department’s policies, we can only hope that the job of deciding who was eligible for a Warm Front grant did not fall to him. However, that might help to explain why nearly 30,000 people who applied for help last year were turned down.

Let us reflect on the figures. Under Labour, in each and every year more than 200,000 households were helped by Warm Front. This year, under this Government, only 40,000 households received help and 30,000 were turned down. They were turned down even though there was an underspend in the Warm Front budget of more than £50 million. That is right: hundreds of thousands of families face higher bills next winter and every winter because of cuts to Warm Front, and tens of thousands of families and pensioners who applied for help last year were left in the cold because of the incompetence of the Secretary of State and his Department, while £50 million that is in the Government’s coffers is going back to the Treasury. We asked whether the underspend could be used to provide further help through the programme. The answer, which I received very recently, was that it is going back to the Treasury.

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[Gregory Barker]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The Minister of State is a rather excitable fellow. I am not interested in whether he thinks he can answer now. He will answer at the point at which the intervention is allowed. The hon. Gentleman is a senior member of the Government. He needs to cultivate a reputation for being a cerebral figure, not an over-excitable one.

[Caroline Flint]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. We have tabled parliamentary questions and used parliamentary procedures to get information, because Ministers at the Department of Energy and Climate Change are not especially forthcoming off their own bat. In response to my question, what did the Minister say? He said that he would not tell us, and I quote—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Let me make the point for the last time. We conduct debate in an orderly way. We do not have Members, be they Back Benchers, Ministers or Opposition Front Benchers, yelling out from a sedentary position, encouraged by cheerleaders behind them. It is an unseemly way to operate. The Minister has registered his interest in offering his view, and no doubt he will have the opportunity to do so in due course. In the meantime, he should sit in statesmanlike quietude and the House will benefit.

[Caroline Flint]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I asked the Minister precisely why he could not tell us what was discussed at the meeting and what had been decided, he replied that he could not because it would “prejudice the commercial interests”—presumably of the big energy companies. That is a direct quote. I find it hard to believe that the big six energy companies are revealing, in front of each other—apparently, they are competitors—information, so sensitive that it would prejudice their commercial interests, about why they are not on target to meet their obligations to help people with their fuel bills and energy efficiency.

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[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. May I remind the House that the wind-ups will begin at 6.30 pm? There is a 10-minute limit, but if hon. Members feel able to speak for less time, demonstrating great concern for their colleagues, that will be an additional benefit. However, it is not obligatory.

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[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Six hon. Members are still seeking to catch my eye and I am keen to accommodate all of them. It will be deliverable with an eight-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches, to apply with immediate effect, and some self-restraint as far as interventions are concerned.

Civil Aviation Bill

John Bercow Excerpts

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab)]

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

[Mr Speaker]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 8, page 13, line 17, clause 18, at end add—

‘(3) A licence must include an obligation on licence holders to procure and publish annual surveys of passenger satisfaction, including but not limited to—

(a) baggage handling services, and

(b) arrangements for delays affecting air passengers.’.

Amendment 9, page 13, line 17, at end add—

‘(3) A licence must include provisions requiring the holder of a licence to develop passenger welfare plans.’.

Amendment 10, page 13, line 17, at end add—

‘(3) A licence must include provisions requiring the holder of a licence to provide support for stranded passengers at airports.’.

[Jim Fitzpatrick]

Mr Speaker, it is a pleasure to see you still in the Chair. I think we can promise you a quieter ride than you experienced earlier in this session—[Interruption.] And it is a pleasure for me to welcome Mr Deputy Speaker to his place. It is nice to know that Mr Speaker left as a happy individual.

New clause 2 and amendments 8, 9 and 10 relate to the passenger experience and to the licensing system. On the Minister’s words about the programme motion, I note the great consensus on the Bill. There are still a few areas of disagreement, but I am sure that the House will generally welcome the Bill; Opposition Members certainly do.

New clause 2 deals especially with those with disabilities, and its provisions were ably spoken to in Committee by my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Nic Dakin). The Civil Aviation Authority’s briefing on Report was sent to us by its Government relations officer, Ms Sandra Webber, and it states:

“The licence regime should minimise the distortions associated with regulatory intervention. In response to a request for advice from the Secretary of State, the CAA published an indicative licence to assist Parliament in its scrutiny of the Bill. It illustrates, for example, one possible approach whereby a licence could include provisions aimed at strengthening airports’ operational resilience to ensure they are much better prepared to avoid the passenger disruption previously experienced during severe weather.”

We very much agree with that approach.

My hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe, as I have said, led in Committee on the provisions of new clause 2, and we heard a number of moving speeches by colleagues on both sides of the House, relating to the embarrassment, difficulties and indignity experienced at airports here and abroad by constituents with disabilities, and encouraging the Government to address those issues and to ensure that best practice is rolled out right across the piece.

Amendment 8 states that a licence

“must include an obligation on licence holders to procure and publish annual surveys of passenger satisfaction”

on “baggage handling” and “arrangements for delays”. We included the words “but not limited to” because in Committee, the Minister rightly drew attention to the fact that the UK Border Agency is subject to the Home Office and would therefore have been outwith the scope of our original amendment. We have omitted that suggestion. However, we hope that the phrase

“including but not limited to”

will give licence holders the opportunity to collate the data that the hon. Member for Amber Valley (Nigel Mills) said it would be appropriate for the CAA to publish on behalf of airports or for airports to publish on their own behalf because they would be of interest.

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[Robert Flello (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Herman Henry Diaz, a leading Fensuagro Colombian trade union activist, is suspected of having been forcibly disappeared a few days ago. He was organising a delegation of activists from the Putumayo department. He was last seen in the Puerto Vega area, a heavily militarised region, which raises real concerns that he may have been detained, or worse, by the Colombian army, which has form on this. I have personally met Mr Diaz. Mr Speaker, may I ask, through you, whether the Foreign Secretary would be prepared to make immediate representations calling for his release and for the Colombian authorities to guarantee his safety?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. I cannot speak for the Foreign Secretary on this matter, and I have no knowledge that the Foreign Secretary is present in the House today, or no certain knowledge to the contrary. However, knowing the way in which these things work and the efficiency of Foreign Office mandarins, I confidently predict that the content of the hon. Gentleman’s point of order will wing its way to the Foreign Secretary or his officials very soon. More particularly, in the interim, the hon. Gentleman’s concern is on the record, and I thank him for raising it.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Thursday 19th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful; we have got the point.

[Mrs Villiers]

This Government are determined to get the costs of running the railways down. We have a plan for delivering that—a plan that has been opposed by Labour Members, who have provided no ideas themselves on how we deal with this problem. We are determined to deliver better value for money for passengers. That is why we are going to get the cost of running the railways down.

Amendment of the Law

John Bercow Excerpts

Friday 23rd March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I must thank the Secretary of State for such a succinct speech. A lot of colleagues want to contribute, and it was helpful to the House.

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[Mr Speaker]

Order. In response to the Minister, who inquired whether the use of the term “diddly squat” was parliamentary, I would say to the hon. Lady and the House that it is matter of taste rather than of order.

[John Woodcock]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I shall take that as a lesson.

Faced with record and rising fuel prices, the Secretary of State set her face against all calls for relief, including the Opposition call for a temporary VAT cut.

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[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Colleagues will be conscious of the fact that there is a seven-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches, reflecting the level of interest. That limit applies with immediate effect.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Thursday 23rd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Villiers]

The shadow Secretary of State has resorted to the same old stuff about the fares basket flexibility that the leader of her party got completely wrong at Prime Minister’s questions. It was a fares basket flexibility that Labour suspended for one year and we introduced, and the Labour Administration in Cardiff are still using that flexibility. It is entirely disingenuous for the shadow Secretary of State to get up and talk about—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We do not use the word “disingenuous” in the Chamber, and I am sure that the Minister of State is happy to withdraw it. We are extremely grateful for her answer.

[Graeme Morrice (Livingston) (Lab)]

3. Whether she plans to consult on draft legislative proposals on use and regulation of armed guards on ships.

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[Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) (LD)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Before I call Dr Huppert, I say to the hon. Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey) that it is not very good form to heckle, but to heckle when sitting in the Chamber fiddling with a BlackBerry is just rank discourteous. It is so blindingly obvious.

[Dr Huppert]

Liberal Democrat councillors on Cambridgeshire county council have proposed a fully funded scheme that would provide free public transport for 16 to 19-year-olds who are seeking education, employment or training. Would the Minister support such a scheme and encourage Cambridgeshire and other councils to look carefully at such ideas?

Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Thursday 12th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Paul Maynard (Blackpool North and Cleveleys) (Con)]

Is the shadow Minister aware that on this issue we need to consider not only what the British Government can do, but what the Scottish Government can do? Is she prepared to consider allowing the Scottish Government to ensure that they can start to build the high-speed line themselves, using their own money and at no cost to English taxpayers?

[Mr Speaker]

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman did not intend to relegate or demote the Secretary of State.

[Justine Greening]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I do not need to allow the Scottish Government to do that; they already have the ability to get on with starting the preparatory work for a Scottish high-speed line if they want to do so.

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[Lynne Featherstone]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. People who come on spousal visas—they are generally but not exclusively women—are left in a very vulnerable situation when they find themselves victims of domestic violence. The previous Government began the Sojourner project, which provided some breathing space for those women. We have continued and extended that project pending a long-term solution, which we are working on with the Department for Work and Pensions—[Interruption.] Mr Speaker, are you coughing at me? [Laughter.] I think I’ll quit while I’m ahead.

[Mr Speaker]

I have never coughed at the hon. Lady, and I was not intending to start, but I am grateful for her compassionate concern for the state of my health. If she had wanted to finish the answer, she could, but she doesn’t, so she won’t.