Business of the House

Thomas Docherty Excerpts

Thursday 8th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand the anxiety that the hon. Lady expresses. On 15 July, there will be Communities and Local Government questions and she will have an opportunity to make her point to Ministers.

[Thomas Docherty (Dunfermline and West Fife) (Lab)]

This morning, the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning), slipped out that the merchant shipping regulations on ship-to-ship transfers of oil carried as cargo will be delayed until next year following lobbying by Lib Dem and Tory MPs. This announcement has been met with horror by organisations in Scotland such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Fife council and communities on both sides of the Forth. Will the Leader of the House find time for an urgent debate in this Chamber or in Westminster Hall next week or the week after so that Members have an opportunity properly to debate this matter rather than having it simply slipped out on a Thursday?

[Sir George Young]

I take the hon. Gentleman’s point. On 22 July, there will be Transport questions, but in the meantime I shall draw his anxiety to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport and get a response.