PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES - United Kingdom Parliament
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES - United Kingdom Parliament
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES - United Kingdom Parliament
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1601 Easter Adjournment<br />
26 MARCH 2013 Easter Adjournment<br />
1602<br />
The hon. Member for Harrow West (Mr Thomas)<br />
talked about his desire to see work proceed on rebuilding<br />
Marlborough and Vaughan primary schools. He will be<br />
pleased to hear that there is no delay. He asked me to<br />
ensure that Ministers chase up the Education Funding<br />
Agency, and I am happy to pass that on so that he gets a<br />
prompt response. He also referred to problems relating<br />
to London Welsh, and I am sure that the Department<br />
for Culture, Media and Sport will have listened carefully<br />
to what he said. He highlighted some inconsistencies in<br />
the penalties issued by the Rugby Football Union, but I<br />
do not think that is something I can pursue as Deputy<br />
Leader of the House. I am sure that is something he will<br />
want to do, and he has put that on the record.<br />
We then heard a contribution from my hon. Friend<br />
the Member for Witham (Priti Patel), who stated that<br />
Essex is the county of entrepreneurs—I am sure that is<br />
also true of many other counties—and made a couple<br />
of specific points about Her Majesty’s Revenue and<br />
Customers and a constituent, Mr Wright. I am sure that<br />
HMRC has public relations people who follow these<br />
debates closely and that they will want to pick up on<br />
that point and, I hope, respond positively to her concerns.<br />
She also referred to some unhappiness about the way in<br />
which the Valuation Office Agency works and the need<br />
for more flexibility on business rates, particularly how<br />
high levels of business rates affect strong and emerging<br />
businesses in her constituency.<br />
The hon. Member for Bradford West (George Galloway)<br />
talked about the If campaign, which I am sure many<br />
Members on both sides of the House will want to<br />
support. That gives me an opportunity to underline the<br />
fact that the Government are delivering on the commitment<br />
to devoting 0.7% of gross national income on aid,<br />
which I think we should all be proud of. It was started<br />
by the previous Government and finished by this one.<br />
He also expressed concern about the difference in the<br />
way children from families with parents who are in<br />
work and those from families with parents who are not<br />
in work are dealt with in respect of free school meals. I<br />
am sure that is something the Department for Education,<br />
which has responsibility for free school meals, might<br />
want to respond to.<br />
My hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough<br />
(Mr Jackson) raised a variety of issues—another Member<br />
referred to it as a “kaleidoscope of issues”—and it<br />
would be difficult to respond to them all. He referred to<br />
the plight of Christians, particularly in countries such<br />
as Pakistan; the importance of recognising the need to<br />
support Tourette’s sufferers, through the Department<br />
for Education, and in schools and in health care; and<br />
the importance of fortifying foods with folic acid, and<br />
the charity in his constituency, Shine, which works on<br />
that issue. I have noted his concerns about equal marriage,<br />
but I am pleased that the Government are pursuing it.<br />
He talked about the important role the voluntary sector<br />
is playing in relation to the Peterborough cathedral<br />
appeal. He also mentioned the Sue Ryder hospice and<br />
the generosity of his city. I am sure that his city and its<br />
people are very generous and that we all want to recognise<br />
that.<br />
We then heard a contribution from the hon. Member<br />
for East Lothian (Fiona O’Donnell) on the Cockenzie<br />
power station. She said that today might feel like groundhog<br />
dog. She will no doubt know that the groundhog is<br />
being sued at the moment. In fact, they are seeking the<br />
death penalty for the groundhog in America because he<br />
has failed to predict the beginning of spring accurately.<br />
She focused on the need for investment. Clearly, the<br />
decision on whether to invest in a new combined cycle<br />
gas turbine at Cockenzie is very much a commercial<br />
matter for ScottishPower, but I am sure that the Government<br />
would welcome that investment and the jobs and energy<br />
that would be created if and when the development goes<br />
ahead.<br />
The hon. Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham)<br />
said that the UK has thrived on immigration but not on<br />
foreign criminals, and I certainly agree with that sentiment.<br />
He made a concrete suggestion—I am sure that the<br />
Ministry of Justice will want to respond to it—about an<br />
amendment to the UK Borders Act 2007 that he thinks<br />
could address the issue of the deportation of foreign<br />
nationals who have served a prison sentence. I am sure<br />
that he will secure a response as a result of his speech.<br />
The hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South<br />
(Barbara Keeley), whose birthday I mentioned earlier,<br />
talked about sport and fitness for women and girls. She<br />
is right to raise that issue, and I commend her for doing<br />
so. We need more women and girls in sport, and the<br />
well-being that can be derived from that is considerable.<br />
She asked for responses to some specific questions, and<br />
I will follow those up. The hon. Member for Congleton<br />
(Fiona Bruce) talked about her local bypass and its<br />
importance in bringing industrial regeneration, particularly<br />
around Radnor Park business park in Congleton, and<br />
the possibility of investment in the aerospace industry.<br />
We then heard from the hon. Member for Dunfermline<br />
and West Fife (Thomas Docherty). I am sorry to hear<br />
about Dunfermline Athletic football club. I am sure<br />
that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and Her<br />
Majesty’s Treasury will want to look on that situation<br />
favourably and assist as much as they can. He also<br />
talked about Royal Navy personnel in Scotland. I can<br />
confirm that there will be a rise in the number of Navy<br />
personnel in Fife supporting the Queen Elizabeth-class<br />
build, peaking at about 750 personnel. I hope that he<br />
welcomes that.<br />
The hon. Member for Southend West (Mr Amess)<br />
raised a very large number of issues, which are all<br />
noted. I am sure that the 20 Departments he mentioned<br />
will want to respond promptly.<br />
The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon)<br />
discussed Ulster Scots culture. I am pleased that he did,<br />
because one always learns something in these debates,<br />
and that was something new. I think he claimed that no<br />
fewer than 12 US Presidents had Ulster Scots heritage,<br />
and I am sure that that is entirely accurate.<br />
My hon. Friend the Member for Ceredigion<br />
(Mr Williams) spoke about interest rate swaps, which I<br />
am sure that many Members are concerned about. He<br />
made a specific request about tailored business loans<br />
that I will follow up. The hon. Member for Harrow East<br />
(Bob Blackman) raised the issue of knife crime, which<br />
the Government are clearly committed to addressing.<br />
He made a specific proposal on a two-strikes policy that<br />
the MOJ may want to follow up.<br />
The speech by my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester<br />
(Sir Bob Russell) was again a bit like groundhog day as<br />
regards Essex county council. He raised the expenses<br />
scandal, which he likes to mention in this place and I<br />
know he will pursue again and again.