| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Business of the House
11.33 am
Alan Duncan (Rutland and Melton) (Con): May I invite the Leader of the House to give us the forthcoming parliamentary business?
The Leader of the House of Commons (Ms Harriet Harman): The business for next week will be as follows:
Monday 27 April—Continuation of the Budget debate.
Tuesday 28 April—Conclusion of the Budget debate.
Wednesday 29 April—Opposition Day [10(th)( )Allotted( )Day]. There will be a debate entitled “The Erosion of Civil Liberties and Freedoms” followed by a debate on the situation in Sri Lanka. Both debates will arise on a Liberal Democrat motion.
Thursday 30 April—House business.
The provisional business for the week commencing 4 May will include:
Monday 4 May—The House will not be sitting.
Tuesday 5 May—Remaining stages of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill.
Wednesday 6 May—Second Reading of the Finance Bill.
Thursday 7 May—Topical debate: subject to be announced followed by a general debate on the Intelligence and Security Committee Annual Report 2007-08.
Friday 8 May—Private Members’ Bills.
Alan Duncan: I thank the right hon. and learned Lady for giving us the business.
Most of us in the House will be pleased that the case of the arrest of my hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Damian Green) has now been satisfactorily resolved. Even though the issue became rather heated, surely we should now stand back and study the implications of what happened. May I therefore ask the Leader of the House to reflect on early-day motion 1307?
[That this House notes the statement of the Director of Public Prosecutions on 16 April 2009 announcing his decision that no charges would be brought against the hon. Member for Ashford in relation to the documents leaked and stating that, ‘Mr Green's purpose in using the documents was apparently to hold the Government to account'; and calls for the House to be given the opportunity to debate a motion to refer the matter to the Committee on Standards and Privileges.]
Will the Leader of the House support the motion that was originally tabled on the Order Paper before the Easter recess to ensure that the House can refer this matter to the Committee on Standards and Privileges as soon as possible? Now is the best time to learn the lessons of this affair so that all the confusion can be cleared up for the future. It is no good her saying that the Attorney-General’s opinion was that there was no confusion, because there was. There is a perfectly good process available to us, and we should invoke it; will she confirm that she will co-operate in doing so?
We have still not had a satisfactory report on what the Leader of the House intends to do about the policing of Parliament square. On Monday, the road was shut all
day. When will she tell the House how she intends to stop Parliament square becoming a site of permanent protest?
May we, perhaps rather esoterically, have a debate on road signs? We have heard this week that the Government intend to ram through their proposals on reducing national speed limits. Can we have the right hon. and learned Lady’s absolute guarantee that this will not lead to a new forest of pointless metal poles and bossy signs that completely wreck the landscape of our streets? Will she ensure that Government policy is designed to reduce street clutter as much as to reduce accidents?
More importantly, may we have a statement and a full explanation from the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families? Yesterday, in highly significant evidence to the departmental Select Committee, Dr. Ken Boston, the former head of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, accused the Schools Secretary of smearing his name by, as he put it, “sexing up” evidence and dodging the blame by presenting “untrue and false evidence” to last year’s inquiry into the SATS fiasco.
Mr. Elliot Morley (Scunthorpe) (Lab): I hope you have told him.
Alan Duncan: This is the same Minister who is implicated in much of the propaganda and, indeed, economic collapse associated with his Prime Minister—so much so that the poor man has even become—
Mr. Speaker: Order. I say very gently to the hon. Gentleman that he cannot criticise a Minister in this way. Criticism of any hon. Member of this House has to be with a substantive motion of the House. He has made the point, so perhaps he can move on to another matter.
Alan Duncan: I will move on, Mr. Speaker, but I was responding to a sedentary intervention. I assure you that I had notified the Secretary of State of what I intended to do, but I hear what you say —it is understood. I would certainly say, however, that he should explain himself at some stage about what has happened and is being seen on television and read about in our press.
May we have a debate on the guarding of Budget secrets? By yesterday morning, we were already aware of several of the Chancellor’s headline schemes, including the car scrappage and HomeBuy initiatives. Is there to be an inquiry into these indiscretions? Obviously, it is unthinkable that Ministers would ever have passed those details to journalists themselves, but will the Leader of the House deplore such leaks and urge an investigation?
On Tuesday, the Prime Minister published his proposals for reforming our system of expenses. If I may be a little personal, may I ask whether the right hon. and learned Lady feels sufficiently appreciated by the Prime Minister? Does she feel that she can still be the guardian of Parliament’s voice in the Cabinet? Is it not clear that she was completely bypassed by No. 10 and then bounced into making a written ministerial statement, as the presentable face of Government, after the Prime Minister’s deeply weird statement on YouTube? Is it really true that No. 10 has said that Labour Members who do not vote for the Prime Minister’s proposals will be deselected? How can she possibly defend his barmy plan for an
automatic daily allowance, for which no receipts will need to be presented, as an improvement on what we have already?
May I take this opportunity to wish the right hon. and learned Lady a happy St. George’s day? I hope that I am not too much of a dragon against this maiden in distress. In the spirit of St. George, will she now renew her pledge to fight for the rights of this House, the freedoms of the country, and the power of MPs to scrutinise and hold to account an unsuitable and arrogant Executive?
Ms Harman: The hon. Gentleman asked about the arrest of the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green) and the issues of parliamentary privilege that arose from it. The House has already made a resolution to refer the matter to a Committee of the Speaker, and I do not think that it would be a good idea to set up a twin-track approach. All the issues about entry to the premises of Parliament, the searching of parliamentary offices and constituency correspondence and what is, or should be, available to the court can be considered by the Speaker’s Committee, which the House agreed should start its work after the criminal proceedings had come to a conclusion. I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman that we should set up a twin-track approach and a separate inquiry into the same issues via the Standards and Privileges Committee.
Alan Duncan: Different issues.
Ms Harman: The hon. Gentleman says that, but he would need to explain why the Speaker’s Committee could not consider the issues that he is concerned about and believes need to be looked into. I am obviously keen for the House to be able to have all the issues that it wants resolved looked into, and I have no vested interest in the House not looking into them and coming to a satisfactory conclusion. I just do not want there to be a twin-track proposal or for us to undermine a resolution that the House has already made at your request, Mr. Speaker, that there should be a Speaker’s Committee to look into the matter.
The second point that the hon. Gentleman raised was about the policing of Parliament square. It is obviously very important that people have the right to demonstrate and are able to make their views known publicly and peacefully, but we have to ensure that the business of this House and the very important site of Parliament square are properly protected, and we do not want the undue tying up of police resources. The matter is under consideration by many authorities and is the operational responsibility of the police. I know that there is ongoing concern and discussions about it, but I do not have anything specific to tell him or the House today.
The hon. Gentleman talked about road signs and a forest of bossy signs. Speed limits are a very important issue, because they are about cutting deaths on the road through traffic accidents, and particularly about cutting pedestrian deaths. This is not being done for the sake of it, and, by the way, it is a consultation; it is not being pushed through. The evidence is that lower speed limits save lives, and particularly the lives of children who would otherwise be killed in road accidents if they were hit as pedestrians. I ask him to reflect on that, and
anybody will have the opportunity to involve themselves in the consultations. If it comes to an ugly road sign or a child being killed, I would go for the ugly road sign.
We all want to be certain that the national curriculum tests, which are important, are properly marked and the information made available to schools promptly. That did not happen, and there was great concern about that. The Sutherland inquiry was established jointly with Ofqual, and it looked into the situation and made proposals for change. Ken Boston resigned, and he has now given evidence to the Select Committee on Children, Schools and Families. Incidentally, the Minister for Schools and Learners, who gave inaccurate information, corrected it is as long ago as February, and Lord Sutherland said that it was not material to his findings anyway, so I urge the hon. Gentleman not to make so much of that. We await the report of the Select Committee, and there will be Children, Schools and Families questions next Monday, so hon. Members who want to ask questions about the matter can do so to the Secretary of State and his ministerial team.
As far as prior publicity about car scrappage is concerned, that first came into the public domain as a demand from the automotive industry. Hon. Members on both sides of the House whose constituents have interests in the automotive industry proposed that scheme to Business Ministers and the Treasury. There was debate and consultation, and the matter could not be kept as a national security issue in those circumstances. There was some discussion in advance—indeed, some of it was in the papers. Rather than focusing on that bit of the process, however, the hon. Gentleman should welcome the car scrappage scheme.
The hon. Gentleman talked about parliamentary allowances. Many Members have constituencies that are far away from Westminster, which inevitably involves extra cost. We do not want only those who can afford to pay the cost of living away from home to represent far-flung constituencies. I hope that there is general agreement on that point. It is important for us to say that, because sometimes the public do not recognise that that would be the result of not assisting with the extra costs incurred in representing far-flung constituencies. First, none of us wants that to happen. Secondly, we all want the public to have confidence in the way in which the House goes about its work and the way in which public money is spent. Thirdly, it is evident that the public do not have that confidence, and, fourthly, we need to do something about that. Fifthly, I hope that we still agree that it is important to involve an independent element.
I hope that the Prime Minister’s asking the Committee on Standards in Public Life to look at the matter will assist the House. I thank Sir Christopher Kelly for agreeing to take on that work, which he has started today. He needs to engage in consideration, deliberation and consultation, and he needs to take some time before he reaches his conclusion, even though he is going to do it expeditiously. In the meantime, because of the high level of public concern, it is important to introduce an interim change. A number of hon. Members think that we should leave the matter until after Sir Christopher Kelly has made his decision, but I do not think that that is right, because we need to introduce interim measures pending the outcome of Sir Christopher Kelly’s report.
My sixth point concerns the proposed arrangements in my written ministerial statement—if I am going on too long, please put me out of my misery, Mr. Speaker. We all agree that there is no perfect remedy and that all the solutions have different upsides and downsides. The flat-rate daily payment acknowledges the additional costs in far-flung constituencies and is tied to business being conducted in Westminster—if one were in one’s constituency all the time, there would be no additional expenses. That proposal includes a reasonable rate. I admit that we will not reach a perfect solution, but it would be good if we were to try to find as much agreement as possible.
The hon. Gentleman did not mention that it is Shakespeare’s birthday. [ Interruption. ] He has now. I shall call on the Shakespearean wisdom of the Deputy Leader of the House from his days in the National Youth theatre. He has mentioned a character whom I have never heard of, Autolycus, who might have been describing the hon. Gentleman when he referred to
“a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles.”
Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab): The National Burn Care Review group is looking at the future of burns units around the country. It has been pushing strongly for the unit in Manchester to be designated as the main one, but that would lead to the units at Merseyside’s Whiston and Alder Hey hospitals being downgraded. We were promised that we would be kept informed of progress, but we heard nothing for 18 months until being told this week that an announcement was to be made that Manchester would be the main centre. Could my right hon. and learned Friend possibly arrange time for an urgent debate on the review of burns units in the north-west?
Ms Harman: I suggest that my hon. Friend raise his considerable concerns about this matter with the Secretary of State for Health, and that he should seek a meeting with him or one of his Ministers.
Mr. David Heath (Somerton and Frome) (LD): First, may I say that I believe that the right hon. and learned Lady is quite wrong about the affair of the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green)? There are distinct differences between the events surrounding that affair and the more general question of privileges. That question should be referred to the Standards and Privileges Committee, whose job it is to look at it. I hope that she will reconsider the matter.
Will the Leader of the House confirm exactly what we will be debating on Thursday 30 April? I notice that the day is now to be devoted to “House business”, rather than to “motions relating to allowances”. Will she confirm that it is the Prime Minister’s motion that we are to be discussing that day? She spoke about the process at some length, but does it not illustrate how the Prime Minister sets about consultation? First of all, he scribbles something on the back of a fag packet, then as an afterthought convenes the leaders of the other parties to rubber-stamp his proposal. When they fundamentally disagree with him, he determines that he will carry on with the scheme that he first thought of anyway—a scheme that in effect proposes a daily banker style bonus to Members of Parliament, without transparency or any relation to real costs incurred. He believes that it will engender the support and confidence of the British
people, but it will not. I hope that we will have a chance to debate alternatives to his proposal, because it is very important that we get this matter right.
If that is what we are to debate on Thursday 30 April, will the Leader of the House also confirm that there are a great many details to do with costs and definitions to be discussed? Her statement did not go into those details, which also include the position of staff and questions about whether there will be staff transfers. Will she produce detailed supporting papers for the proposition early next week, so that we know exactly what we are talking about, or are we to be asked to buy a particularly ill-smelling pig in a poke?
In 2002, the Public Administration Committee produced a report on special advisers entitled “These Unfortunate Events”. Given that there have been more unfortunate events over the Easter recess, will the Leader of the House confirm that it is the Government’s intention to introduce the provisions of a civil service Act, either as a stand-alone Bill or as part of the Constitutional Renewal Bill? That intention has been often stated, but when will we have statutory control of the civil service, including special advisers?
Can we have a statement or a debate on broadband? In yesterday’s Budget, the Chancellor referred to extra investment in broadband, but there is a great deal of concern around the country that it will not lead to Britain having the broadband speed that it will need to be truly competitive in the future. That concern is especially strong in rural areas, where people worry that they will simply not get the provision at all. Can we have a clear statement therefore on what will be provided, and the implications?
Lastly, after months of waiting and many parliamentary questions, on Tuesday we finally got the implementation of the homeowners mortgage support scheme that had been announced in December. However, does the right hon. and learned Lady accept that not one UK bank that is not under state control is participating in the scheme? I am talking about the Abbey, Nationwide, Barclays, HSBC, the Alliance & Leicester—none of the major lenders that are not directly controlled by the state is taking part. Is not that a huge omission, and will it not leave many homeowners in a very poor position when compared with others who have borrowed from those banks that have had to take money from the state? Can we have a clear statement on the operation of the homeowners mortgage support scheme, so that hon. Members can ask proper questions about the position of their constituents?
Ms Harman: The proposal for a flat-rate daily payment does not come from the back of one of the Prime Minister’s envelopes. It is one of the alternatives that has been considered by this House over a period of time, including by the Committee on Members’ Allowances in its former incarnation. The flat-rate daily payment system proposal is not new and should take no one by surprise, but it would be transparent about the number of days, and precisely which ones, for which each hon. Member claims.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |