Tobias Ellwood, Bournemouth East MP and a Shadow DCMS Minister, has posed a written question that is all the more interesting in light of the fact that Tony Blair has just visited Gaza for the first time since being appointed Middle East envoy for the EU, Russia, UN and US in June 2007. "Mr. Ellwood: […]
Cheryl Gillan, who is Shadow Welsh Secretary and MP for Chesham and Amersham, introduced the second reading of the Autism Bill on Friday. Mrs Gillan had come top of the Private Members’ ballot, and received over a hundred requests for causes to promote. The Autism Bill aims to improve information on the number of people […]
Lord Howe of Aberavon, better known as Geoffrey Howe, spoke in the House of Lords yesterday about foreign affairs. Here are some highlights from his speech: "I start with a word about defence. We have long been accustomed, in government or out of it, to being able to fulfil our central objective, which is the […]
Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude has pressed the Prime Minister over the rather fraught issue of Lord Falconer’s pension. In November 2007 the Telegraph reported that Lord Falconer was ready to sue Gordon Brown over the size of his pension. Lord Chancellors have historically had generous arrangements to reflect the fact that […]
At DEFRA questions yesterday Macclesfield’s Sir Nicholas Winterton was rightly troubled about the infrequent collection of rubbish: "I am concerned about the service that local authorities give to residents. Increasingly, under councils of every political colour, there is anger and criticism about how local authorities are operating refuse collection, not least regarding the move from […]
The following exchange took part during Business Questions. Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con): "May we have a debate on political correctness in the light of the excellent remarks made by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government earlier this week, and particularly in relation to schools? Despite the right hon. Lady’s speech, they are […]
Malcolm Harbour, who speaks on the Internal Market for the Conservatives in the European Parliament, has welcomed a proposal to allow small businesses to be made exempt from the EU Directive on annual reporting obligations. It would apply to companies with a turnover of less than one million euros and fewer than ten employees. Mr […]
In February 2008 Hammersmith & Fulham MP Greg Hands (now a Shadow Treasury Minister) filed a complaint with Standards Commissioner John Lyon about Gordon Brown. Today the Prime Minister has been found by the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee to have inadvertently broken the rules relating to the sub-letting of taxpayer funded constituency offices. The […]
I want to place on record that I think the suspension of Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday was absolutely right and proper. None of David Cameron’s senior colleagues – who are also his friends – would have wanted to stand in for him. The Prime Minister meanwhile will have been particularly saddened, having lost a child […]
Questions were put to the Cabinet Office / Duchy of Lancaster yesterday. Members were swift to express their deep sympathy to David Cameron and his family over the death of Ivan. I add my own. Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Nick Hurd posed a question about charities. (Naomi House, to which he refers, is a children’s […]
Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb secured a Westminster Hall debate for Tuesday, on the subject of gas storage in the UK. Herewith some highlights from his speech: "I am grateful to have secured this short but timely debate on the adequacy of UK gas storage. We are experiencing another winter of tight gas supply with […]
A over a hundred MPs from different parties have signed the following Early Day Motion (number 862), calling for a release of a report on the arrest of Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green: "JOHNSTON INQUIRY REPORT 24.02.2009 Jenkin, Bernard That this House notes that the report of the inquiry conducted by Chief Constable Ian Johnston […]
Wells MP David Heathcoat-Amory asked a challenging question of the Foreign Secretary yesterday: "Is the Secretary of State aware that when North Koreans try to leave that dictatorship, they often cross into China, where they are rounded up and sent back to North Korea in defiance of all China’s obligations as a signatory to the […]
The end of half-term brings with it a new edition of Hansard and written answers. Herewith some that grabbed my attention. The answer that leapt out at me was to Shadow Home Affairs Minister David Ruffley. Staggeringly, the Government doesn’t seem to know by how many police officers the country is short: "Mr. Ruffley: To […]