Dame Angela Eagle
MP for Wallasey · Labour · United Kingdom
“The Kremlin increasingly relies on proxy organisations to pursue its objectives, seeking to undermine our security while maintaining a degree of plausible deniability. The so-called GRU Volunteer Corps is a clear example of that approach. It is not an independent force or a loose collection of volunteers.”
“This Government have introduced support for the Jewish communities who have been threatened and directly targeted by IRGC proxies. Just a couple of days ago, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced an extra £250 million for policing to ensure that we can support and protect our Jewish communities.”
“I will move on to the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right. The IMCR has publicly claimed seven attacks at UK locations linked to Jewish and Israeli communities and to Persian-language media, including the antisemitic arson attack on four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green on 23 March.”
“We expect platforms to act responsibly and not to provide space for state threat-linked activity, propaganda or recruitment. We will be keeping a close eye on that, as well as liaising with social media companies to tell them about how this law impacts them.”
“The IRGC Quds Force and the IRGC Intelligence Organisation, together with the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, form the Iranian intelligence apparatus. As a key component of the Iranian state’s security apparatus, the IRGC is answerable directly to Iran’s Supreme Leader.”
“It provides a targeted and proportionate means of disrupting those involved in foreign power threat activity based on the recommendations of Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of state threat legislation. To answer the hon.”
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“This week we learned from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury that they have gone from drinking whisky together in those early heady days to the Chancellor putting a padlock on the Treasury fridge filled with treats and milk. What would Mrs Thatcher say if she knew that it was the Liberal Democrats who are now the milk-snatchers?”
“He likes outsourcing, so why does he not just give up and let the Opposition handle the rest of the legislative programme in this Parliament? There is no question but that we would make a better job of it. There are only two other men in the Government who came close to the Chief Whip for having a bad week. One was the Prime Minister, who has been savaged by Dominic Cummings for having “no political priorities whatsoever” and being unable to “manage his way out of a paper bag”. Cummings revealed a real truth when he went on to say: “There is no long-term priority. There is no long-term plan.” And what about the Chancellor?”
“The Home Secretary was left filibustering while frantic junior Whips rang round Government Back Benchers to bring them back from their lobster dinners, and although the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor were forced to rush back from their white tie banquet with their City friends, the Chief Whip was nowhere to be seen. The following day’s newspapers were full of a vicious blame game between the Home Office and the Tory Whips, and later in the week we learned that the unelected Chamber was going to be granted a say on the European arrest warrant when the Commons had been denied one. It took yesterday’s Labour Opposition day to give this House the debate on the European arrest warrant which the Prime Minister promised us four weeks ago. After witnessing this farce, I have a suggestion for the Leader of the House.”
“Is it not the case that the Government treat this place with contempt? Just look at what happened with the European arrest warrant. The Prime Minister stood at the Dispatch Box and promised the House that we would have a vote on the European arrest warrant before today. The Government botched the drafting so badly that the regulation was rejected by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. They brought a motion to the House which masqueraded as a vote on the European arrest warrant when it was no such thing. This caused outrage on all sides.”
“Apparently he has written to Tory MPs to tell them that this Government are so out of ideas that they are no longer required to be in Parliament on a Thursday. I am glad to see that so many are disobeying him, but 40 years ago a previous Tory Government introduced the three-day week. Only this nostalgia-obsessed former Education Secretary could possibly think of bringing it back. Will the Leader of the House tell us whether we can now expect to be holding our debates by candlelight? Does he support the reintroduction of the three-day week? It seems that this zombie Government are grinding to a halt. Their legislative programme is threadbare, the House sits for less and less time, they have lost and then ignored a record number of votes, and now the Chief Whip has told Tory MPs that they do not need to show up at all.”
“He has misplaced two MPs, he keeps losing votes, and this week he presided over the first-ever Commons defeat for this Government on their own legislation. This was the fourth time that the House has voted to introduce a statutory code to end unfair beer ties. The Leader of the House has some relationship with beer and he used to tell us about it a lot, so will he confirm that he will now finally accept the clearly expressed will of the House and not try to reverse this decision? Is it not obvious now that the Chief Whip cannot even organise a vote in a brewery? Light was shed yesterday on the Tory Chief Whip’s mysterious absence from this place every Thursday morning. I note that once again he is not here.”
“I thank the Leader of the House for announcing next week’s business. A week on Monday we will debate the Government’s defeats on the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill on their plans to curtail severely the use of judicial review. With their cuts to legal aid and their gag on charities and campaigners, is it not now obvious that this Government started off promising a big society but have ended up stifling civil society? Does the Leader of the House plan to allow the modest amendments from the other place to remain in the Bill? I am getting a bit worried about the Tory Chief Whip. The first thing he did when he got his job was get stuck in the toilet, and I am afraid to say it has all gone down the pan since then.”
“That is why Labour has built on our proud tradition of constitutional reform, and has announced a comprehensive programme for change. We will deliver a new English deal, which will devolve over £30 billion to city and county regions. We will ensure that the Welsh model of devolution is on an equal footing with the Scottish, and will hold an unprecedented and wide-reaching constitutional convention, in order to have a conversation with all parts of our country about the change that we need if we are to modernise the way that we are governed. We will introduce regional investment banks; devolve powers to encourage economic development in cities, counties and regions; and ensure that skills, transport and the Work programme can be planned and delivered locally.”
“All institutions have been affected by this breakdown in trust: Parliament, the Church, the police, the press—I could go on. We need to address that. Globalisation has increased the feeling of powerlessness, and the view that supranational forces are more influential than national Governments makes it hard to persuade potential voters of the possibility of change at national level. The commercialised retail model of politics as a brand choice, rather than a contest of values, encourages passive consumer behaviour, rather than empowering potential voters to become actively involved. The way politics is carried on in Westminster is becoming increasingly incomprehensible to an electorate who are alienated, rather than charmed, by our arcane and quaint procedures. It is clear that we need a radical plan for reform and change.”
“The result of the Scottish referendum will change our Union for the better. The Opposition are completely clear that we will keep our vow, made to the Scottish people on the eve of referendum. It is also clear that we now have a great opportunity to change the governance arrangements in the rest of the UK for the better, and it is that to which I now turn. It is right that we do not just consider further powers to Scotland in isolation from a wider crisis of trust that we are seeing in our politics across all four nations, and it was widely alluded to in many of today’s speeches. There are a number of reasons for this breakdown. The age of deference is long gone, thank goodness, but it is not welcome that it has been replaced by the age of contempt.”
“Friend the Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Mr Brown), has set out a timetable for further devolution to Scotland, which is well on track. The three main parties all signed up to the vow that we will deliver change for Scotland. This is not and never has been in doubt. The vow makes four key promises—promises that it is imperative that we uphold. Extensive new powers will be granted to the Scottish Parliament. The people of Scotland will be central to any decisions moving forwards. All four nations should be resourced fairly, and we will continue the Barnett allocation for resources. I want to restate Labour’s categorical assurance that in our first Queen’s speech we will have a new Scotland Act. We look forward to the report from Lord Smith of Kelvin, which I understand is expected next Thursday.”
“For too long the Scottish people have felt disempowered and alienated from decisions taken in Westminster. But it struck me forcefully on those Scottish doorsteps that the alienation and the feeling of powerlessness would be mirrored on a great many English doorsteps too. I come across it wherever and whenever I knock on doors. The answer to it is a deeper, more meaningful democracy with more profound devolution across our nations. It is not the politics of separation, grievance and divisive nationalism. Labour has led the way on devolution to the Scottish Parliament. We passed the Scotland Act 1998 and brought the Parliament into being, and I am glad that we are continuing to develop it now. The former Prime Minister, my right hon.”
“I want to address specifically the further powers to be given to Scotland and I want then to set out Labour’s proposals for devolution for the rest of the UK. Finally, I want to talk about why it is important that we approach any conversation about constitutional change in a consensual and not a petty partisan way. In September, the Scottish people, for the first time in their history, made the decision in a referendum to remain part of the United Kingdom, but they also voted for change, not the status quo. I spent some thought-provoking and exhausting days campaigning in Scotland to maintain the Union, and it was clear from the many people to whom I spoke that they simply were not satisfied with business as usual. The conversations I had emphasised the truth.”
“We also believe that proposals should be brought forward to replace the House of Lords with an elected senate of the nations and regions. We believe that there should be a new Scotland Act, but we also believe in an English devolution Act. If we form the next Government, we will bring both those things forward. The advent of the Scottish referendum and the dramatic campaign it produced is a tribute to the power of lively democratic debate to banish complacency and galvanise politics as a whole. Little wonder that it has promoted not just the commitment to a further devolution of power to Scotland, but, as many have pointed out, a wider debate about political power in the whole of the UK—who has it and how they use it.”
“When the Hansard Society’s annual audit of political involvement shows that only 7% of people strongly believe that if they got involved in politics they could make a difference, and when voter turnout has been in decline, it is obvious that we need to act to bring forward profound change if we are to strengthen, reinvigorate and renew our democracy. But that action must not be some kind of partisan Westminster cooked-up insider fix, which is why we in the Labour party have called for a constitutional convention to be established to review and make recommendations in relation to future governance arrangements for the whole of the United Kingdom. We want to reverse a century of centralisation by devolving tens of billions of pounds of funding to the regions and local government.”
“Friends the Members for Edinburgh North and Leith (Mark Lazarowicz), for Dudley North (Ian Austin), for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray), for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Ms Stuart), for Glasgow North East (Mr Bain), for Inverclyde (Mr McKenzie), for Edinburgh East (Sheila Gilmore) and, last but by no means least, for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott). There has been a consistent drum beat in favour of having more and better sharing of powers from the centre to the cities, counties, regions and nations of this country. We need to enhance real democratic involvement, not watch it diminish through reduced involvement and cynicism.”
“Labour believes that the current system of governance for all the nations and regions of this country is far too centralised and not nearly democratic enough. We believe that we need a much more fundamental shift of power away from London and Whitehall, and we have a radical plan for spreading power and prosperity across the great towns, cities, regions and nations. The following Labour Members have contributed to the debate: my right hon. Friends the Members for Knowsley (Mr Howarth), for Nottingham North (Mr Allen), and for Birkenhead (Mr Field), and my hon.”
“The Prime Minister told the Liaison Committee this morning that reform of the Barnett formula was “not on the horizon” and that “if you took all the extra money that Scotland gets from the Barnett formula and distributed it amongst the 55 million people in England, it’s not a pot of gold”. He made the obvious assertion that 55 million English people do not get quite so big a share of the Barnett formula deliveries as 6 million Scottish people get. In essence, if the Barnett formula is reformed, the hope that England will somehow be full of all the things it needs is probably not an accurate view. I have never been a conservative by instinct or, indeed, by any kind of inclination. I have long believed that the way in which this country is governed can be improved, and I think it can be improved significantly.”
“To counter that, it seems obvious to me that we must begin by delivering on our promises, which is why Labour believes very strongly that it is imperative that we deliver, to the agreed timetable, on the vow that all leaders of the main parties made to the people of Scotland just prior to the referendum. Our amendment, which was not selected, notes that “the commitment made by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition to the continuation of the Barnett allocation of resources and full representation for Scottish MPs in the UK Parliament” is equally important and needs to be borne in mind.”
“I congratulate the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Mr Raab) and those who sponsored his motion on their success in persuading the Backbench Business Committee that this was a suitable subject for debate. The extremely interesting, fascinating and lively debate we have had demonstrates that the Backbench Business Committee was probably right to choose it. This is a topic of obvious relevance to all of us as we seek to adapt our unwritten constitution to meet the rapidly changing expectations of our constituents and yet ensure that the whole is coherent and greater than the sum of its parts. We must seek to do that in an era when much political endeavour is seen through a prism of coruscating cynicism and where genuine and open debate is hard to sustain.”
“We are already doing some pre-work, before the election. We want this to happen very quickly after the election, and want to be ready to come forward with some views after proper conversations with people from across the entire country. We are looking at models such as the Scottish constitutional convention and the Irish constitutional convention, which happened after the crash. There are good models out there that we can use to bring about a process that would give a new settlement the legitimacy it deserves. [Interruption.]”
“There is an exciting possibility of progressive change ahead and the prospect of a radical improvement in the way the UK is governed, which would take power and accountability closer to the people and renew our democracy. I believe that we should seize it.”
“I hope that we can see it reasserted in the months ahead. Labour has a proud record of constitutional reform achieved by trying to find cross-party consensus. We devolved power to cities as well as nations. We passed the Freedom of Information Act and the Human Rights Act. We began the process of Lords reforms, and I hope that we will be able to finish it by establishing a senate of the nations and regions. We understand that there is more to the debate than just English votes for English MPs; it is about how our democracy works and how we can rebuild trust in it. I urge Members to vote against the motion because of its reference to a review of the Barnett formula, which would go against the promises that were given to the Scottish people before the referendum.”
“With their modest announcements on some cities, the Government have come very late to any thought of meaningful devolution of power to the English regions. Indeed, they have centralised power quite significantly, beginning with the complete dismantling of the regional development agencies. Meanwhile, Labour Members have been proposing the biggest devolution of power ever to the English regions. After the McKay commission reported on the West Lothian question, the Government’s own press release said: “The Government is giving serious consideration to this report. Given the significance of the recommendations for both England and the UK as a whole, it is right to take the time required for a thorough and rigorous assessment.” That welcome and sensible approach was thrown over on the morning after the referendum.”
“The need for a distinct voice and identity for the English is something that I understand, but the issue is much wider than who votes on what, and in which way, in this House; today’s debate has demonstrated that. Look at what this Government have done to make worse the problem of unfair access to resources. They have instigated huge cuts to local authorities in England, and they have hit the poorest areas hardest. The effect of the Barnett formula distribution pales into insignificance compared with what has been happening in local government allocations. My local authority will have suffered a 57% cut to its 2009-10 budget by the end of this Parliament, which is a loss of over £700 per household. While the social safety net is torn away in the Wirral, Surrey Heath has received an increase of £25 per household.”
“I will get on with that later, Mr Deputy Speaker. Our amendment, had it been selected, would have brought about proposals that would meet the scale of the challenge and unite the country through conversation and consensus; that is exactly what we would seek to do. When the Prime Minister appeared on his front step just hours after the result of the Scottish referendum was announced, his intention was not to bring our country together, but to try to find a new way to divide us with his partisan suggestion of English votes for English laws, which he appears to want to apply to Finance Bills. Instead of behaving like a Prime Minister, he behaved like a man concerned only with his own narrow party interest who was running scared of the UK Independence party.”
“Corporal McLaughlin gave his life in the service of his country, but he has been failed by a rigid administrative system that has forgotten his sacrifice. His citation should have been processed, but it was not. The Minister has a chance to put that right. Every Minister whom the family have met has agreed that Corporal McLaughlin displayed enormous bravery worthy of recognition. Anyone hearing his story, or reading it in much greater detail than I have presented today, would agree. Will the Minister not agree that it is now appropriate that the rewritten citation should be properly considered alongside the contemporary accounts of Stewart’s undoubtedly brave actions that day in order to give a man who gave his life for our country his due recognition?”
“The circumstances are so exceptional that I do not believe a dangerous precedent would be set if the Minister were to make us all extremely happy and announce a belated consideration in her response today. It would not be the first time that a retrospective award has been made. For example, in 2012 the Prime Minister announced that sailors who delivered supplies to Russia during the second world war should receive the Arctic Star. Only a month ago, the Prime Minister awarded the South Atlantic medal to soldiers who served in the Falklands in the weeks after the war had concluded, and that was done after a review. I have examples of half a dozen soldiers granted the Victoria Cross decades after their death in the late 19th century. What we are asking for would not be unprecedented.”
“The Prime Minister goes on to say that there cannot be an award at this distance, because it would be unfair to those who “fought alongside him”. Yet it is precisely the testimony of those of his comrades who did fight alongside him that provides the irrefutable evidence of his heroism on that day. Indeed, some of them were on the march to Downing street in July. It is of course right that our honours system is rigorous and above reproach. It is also right that politics should play no role in making awards. All the campaign has ever been about, however, is ensuring that Corporal McLaughlin’s actions are finally properly considered in the way that they would have been without the administrative error.”
“Sir Hew Pike, who is in the Public Gallery listening to the debate, along with Stewart’s entire chain of command in the Paras, recalls submitting the citation and has recently taken the unprecedented step of rewriting it. In it, he states: “Cpl McLaughlin’s leadership through a terrible battle, of which his young soldiers had no previous experience, inspired confidence in all and sustained those who might otherwise have faltered.” There are many contemporary accounts of Corporal McLaughlin’s actions on that night that are not disputed. Yet the Prime Minister’s letter refers to “reopening honours boards” and “reconsidering” Stewart’s actions which have been “rigorously examined”, even though we have established that his bravery was never considered for an award in the first place.”
“They are understandably worried that a gallantry award granted to Corporal McLaughlin after the passage of so many years might somehow open the floodgates, but I argue strongly that Stewart’s case cannot be reconsidered, because it was never considered in the first place. The response I have had from the Prime Minister fails to address that crucial issue. A citation was written, but never processed. The letter from Lord Astor, a Minister at the Ministry of Defence, seems to intimate that perhaps Sir Hew Pike never submitted the citation at all. That point is patently untrue, however, and I ask the Minister present today to confirm that on the record.”
“I first visited Edmund and his wife Elizabeth in the 1990s to lend my support to the campaign. In July this year, hundreds of Paras, family and friends marched to Downing street asking for Stewart’s bravery finally to be properly considered for an award. Thousands of people have signed a petition and it was handed to the Prime Minister on that day. Since then, however, it is fair to say that we have come up against a brick wall of intransigence. I have received two letters, one from Lord Astor and the other from the Prime Minister, turning down a request for what they call a “review” of the situation.”
“After Stewart McLaughlin died in June 1982, the family went to a memorial service for the fallen Paras in October of that year. At the memorial, Major Mike Argue, Stewart’s officer commanding, told Edmund that he had put Stewart in for the highest award for gallantry. Three weeks later, when the awards were published in The Gazette , Stewart’s name was not even mentioned. That was when Edmund knew that something was wrong and he started his campaign to get Stewart the recognition that everyone knew his actions merited. Corporal McLaughlin’s family have run a tireless campaign for the proper consideration of Stewart’s actions, because they rightly believe that recognition of bravery should not be refused simply because of some kind of administrative error, and it was administrative error that is at fault.”
“As I stood on Egremont prom on Remembrance Sunday to honour our war dead, it occurred to me that no story expresses the bravery and sacrifice of our armed forces better than that of Corporal Stewart McLaughlin, who was killed later that day in 1982, at the age of only 27. After the battle, Corporal McLaughlin’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Hew Pike, wrote up a citation for bravery, but in the chaos and confusion after the battle the citation appears to have been lost, so it was never processed or considered. The McLaughlin family are a big military family and they do Wallasey proud. Stewart’s dad, the late Edmund Joseph, served, and so did six of his eight sons. Stewart’s mum, the late Elizabeth, had much to be proud of.”
“Apparently, when he realised that their position there was unsustainable, he shouted, “I will count one, two, three, and then we all go.” According to his commanding officer, he shouted, “Come on, lads, I’m bullet-proof. Follow me!” He then ran straight towards the gunfire, followed by the rest of the section, and they all reached cover. Members of the section apparently commented that it was the bravest thing they had ever seen. The regimental colonel said that Corporal McLaughlin’s heroic actions on that day are so widely known that they are now in the DNA of the regiment.”
“The circumstances that have led us to this debate, 32 years after the event, are well known and not disputed. In July 1982 Corporal Stewart McLaughlin was a section commander in 5 platoon, B company, 3 Para, which during the Falklands war led the successful assault on Mount Longdon, overlooking Port Stanley. It was a crucial victory that led, just days later, to an Argentinian surrender. As is acknowledged, the successful outcome of that battle was substantially in doubt. Corporal McLaughlin’s men were under sustained fire, but he reassured them by running into danger to pull the injured back to relative safety. He also protected them by leading the charge to the cover of nearby rocks.”
“I welcome the Minister of State for defence personnel, welfare and veterans and hope that she will be able to deal in detail with my arguments today. A member of the shadow Cabinet is not often successful in applying for a Westminster Hall debate, so I want to thank Mr Speaker for allowing it to happen. My aim is to persuade the Government to right a great injustice and finally to allow Corporal Stewart McLaughlin’s heroic actions during the battle for Mount Longdon to be considered for the recognition that they so clearly deserve. I will end my remarks early to allow my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis), who also served in the Parachute Regiment, to add his voice to the plea for the long-overdue consideration of a gallantry award for Corporal McLaughlin.”
“In this case, therefore, we should go back and reconsider.””
“I understand the argument the Minister is making about precedent and the way the system works, but we have now established that the citation was written —Sir Hew Pike, who is here listening to the debate, says it was written—but never actually typed up and transferred over. Therefore, Stewart McLaughlin’s actions were never considered at the time. Given the exceptional nature of this occurrence, where we have the word of the commanding officer at the time and we have extremely detailed contemporaneous information about what Stewart did on that night, I wonder whether the entire system would collapse and the floodgates would open if the Minister said, “This is exceptional. We need to go back and consider, with all the evidence we have, the citation that was originally written and accept that there was an unexpected administrative error.”
“Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. On 29 October, the Prime Minister said: “I am not delaying having a vote on it”— that is, the European arrest warrant—and: “There will be a vote on it.” He went on to say that “we are going to have a vote, we are going to have it before the Rochester by-election”. —[ Official Report , 29 October 2014; Vol. 587, c. 301.] Have you had any indication from the Leader of the House whether there will be an emergency business statement so that we can facilitate a vote on the European arrest warrant rather than on everything but the European arrest warrant?”
“I know the Leader of the House is a man of the people, so will he confirm that he had his usual 14 pints?”
“I understand that after business questions last week the Leader of the House and his fellow Tories travelled to the Prime Minister’s constituency to shed the accusation that they are out of touch and privileged by recreating the Bullingdon club at a £200-a- night hotel. Apparently, it was billed as a “How to beat UKIP summit”, but the campaign effort appeared to consist of knocking back free champagne and cognac until 3 am. The Chief Whip played a special game of “I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue”, but we know that already. The right hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan) unveiled an excruciating painting of the Chancellor naked and brandishing a carrot, and some after-dinner jokes were in such dubious taste that Bernard Manning would have been embarrassed to use them.”
“Lords rules dictate that a statutory instrument will not be taken unless it has been approved by the Joint Committee, but the Government are now so desperate to get this vote out of the way that they appear to have scheduled the vote in the Commons before they are sure that they can get the Joint Committee’s consent. Will the Leader of the House explain what he will do if the Joint Committee rejects the proposals after the House has voted on them on Monday? Will he admit that Ministers should have been spending less time worrying about the revolt on their Back Benches, and more time ensuring that the Home Office got its drafting right?”
“Member for Stourbridge (Margot James), who this week wrote that “the anti-immigration and EU minority tail, is wagging the majority British dog”? May I thank the Leader of the House for heeding my call last week and for announcing that we will vote on opting back in to the European arrest warrant on Monday, just 10 days before the Prime Minister’s self-imposed deadline? Will he confirm troubling reports that the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments has in fact refused to approve the draft regulations because they are riddled with errors?”
“As Tory Back Benchers continue with their never-ending plots to drive Britain out of the European Union, it is clear that the German Chancellor is losing patience with the Prime Minister’s desperate attempts keep his party together. She let it be known this week that tinkering with free movement was a point of no return for Britain’s membership. Yesterday, all the Prime Minister could do was to attempt an in/out hokey cokey that fooled no one. Before the Leader of the House is tempted to follow in the Prime Minister’s footsteps and quote extensively my deputy, my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Thomas Docherty), will he tell us if he agrees with his Parliamentary Private Secretary, the hon.”
“This is living wage week, which Opposition Members are proud to support. Twenty-eight Labour councils are now accredited living wage employers, and Labour-run Brent council is putting our policy into practice early by incentivising local employers to pay the living wage. Does the Leader of the House remember his fight to prevent the introduction of the lower but statutory minimum wage, and does he remember declaring that it would price people out of work? Will he now apologise for getting it so wrong, and will he tell us why he is proud of an economic recovery that is leaving so many hard-working people behind?”
“Does the Leader of the House agree that we should also find an appropriate way to commemorate all House staff who lost their lives in that war? A week on Monday, we will debate the remaining stages of the Childcare Payments Bill. The Bill is too little, too late for parents for whom child care costs have risen five times faster than pay since 2010. They do not want to wait until after the next election for the Government to do something about it. Surely the answer is to nearly double the hours of free child care for three and four-year-olds. Every week in Wallasey, I meet people struggling to feed their families at the end of the month, despite the fact that they are in work. Thanks to this Government, more than 12,000 people were forced to rely on food banks in the Wirral last year alone.”
“I thank the Leader of the House for announcing next week’s business. May I take this opportunity to congratulate the Deputy Leader of the House on his promotion in the fallout from the spectacular exit from the Home Office of the right hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker)? On Sunday, I will attend a remembrance service by the war memorial on Egremont prom in New Brighton, overlooking the River Mersey. On that day, we will remember all the men and women who have given their lives to protect our country. Does the Leader of House agree that such events will be especially poignant this year, the centenary of the start of the great war? I note that we are commemorating on the Order Paper the Members who gave their lives in the great war.”
“Last week, I was harsh on the Chief Whip for his absence from the Chamber—I note his absence again today. I have since discovered that he was learning some skills to help him with the job—at the Westminster dog of the year competition. May I congratulate him on coming second with his dog Snowy, which he described as “naughty, stubborn and greedy”. That sounds a lot like his Tory Back Benchers. Members are fleeing the kennel to UKIP, the Eurosceptics are straining at the leash and Lynton Crosby has sent the dog whistle into overdrive. Anyone who would vote for this lot must be barking.”
“In retaliation, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats wrote to all Tory MPs stating: “This claim is utterly false”. What a sad state of affairs: in four and a half years they have gone from fluttering eyelashes in the rose garden to an exchange of “Dear John” letters. But the problem with all this is that no one seems to have bothered to tell the House what on earth is going on. Genuinely important Bills are being held up by this farce, so can the Leader of the House confirm that these two Bills are now dead, in order that there can be progress on the others? If the European Union (Referendum) Bill was so important, can the right hon. Gentleman tell us why, in the words of his coalition colleagues, the Prime Minister “folded like a cheap deckchair” at the first opportunity in the negotiation that could have ensured its passage?”