Business of the House

These questions will last around an hour. Members will have to police themselves over the length of the questions that they wish to deliver. I call the shadow Leader of the House.

Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?

The business for the week commencing 3 November includes:

Monday 3 November—Second Reading of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill.

Tuesday 4 November—Opposition day (12th allotted day). Debate on a motion in the name of the official Opposition, subject to be announced.

Wednesday 5 November—Consideration of Lords message to the Employment Rights Bill, followed by consideration of Lords amendments to the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill.

The House will rise for the November recess at the conclusion of business on Wednesday 5 November and return on Tuesday 11 November.

The provisional business for the week commencing 10 November includes:

Tuesday 11 November—General debate on the contribution of the armed forces to mark Remembrance.

Wednesday 12 November—Opposition day (13th allotted day). Debate on a motion in the name of the official Opposition, subject to be announced.

Thursday 13 November—Consideration of Lords amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

Friday 14 November—The House will not be sitting.

The provisional business for the week commencing 17 November includes:

Monday 17 November—Committee of the whole House and remaining stages of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill.

I thank the Leader of the House for that update.

I know the whole House will want to join me in sending our very best wishes to the victims of the hurricane in Jamaica, and now also Cuba, Haiti and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

I want to pay a personal tribute to Prunella Scales, who died this week. She was a magnificent actress, the linchpin of a great acting dynasty and—as was her husband Timothy West—a wonderful reader of audiobooks.

Among the news this week have been the following items: the former Leader of the House, the right hon. Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell), has been elected as deputy leader of the Labour party, and has vowed to work constructively with No. 10 Downing Street; the Director of Public Prosecutions has publicly contradicted the Prime Minister in relation to the collapsed China spying case; the Labour party has fallen in the polls to a record low for a recently elected Government; and Irish citizens may now be forced to have digital identity cards to work in this country under the Government’s new plans.

I would like to raise with the Leader of the House two important issues, one directly relating to the recent business of the House. As a former Chief Whip, he will know that the first question at Prime Minister’s questions always follows a simple formula: the Prime Minister is asked to list their engagements; he or she typically presents public condolences or congratulations and comments on an issue—often an international issue—affecting the whole House; and then says, “This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others,” and so on.

Unfortunately, since taking office last year, the present Prime Minister has increasingly misused his first engagements question. Two weeks ago, he used it to avoid making a full statement to the House about China, which I do not think can have pleased the Speaker’s Office. This week, he used it to try to score a series of partisan political points—by my counting, the eighth time he has tried to do this since taking office. This is an abuse of procedure, and it is a discourtesy to this House. Its effect is to turn an open question into a party political broadcast. It undermines a valuable opportunity to bring the House together every week on a matter of public importance before the usual knockabout of PMQs begins. It is unworthy of the Prime Minister’s office and unworthy of the Prime Minister, who is a very decent human being. Therefore, may I politely invite the Leader of the House to ask the Prime Minister to desist? [Interruption.] And may I wish him good luck in doing so?

Let me begin by joining the shadow Leader of the House in his tribute to Prunella Scales, who was a fantastic actress, and in his remarks about the effects of Hurricane Melissa. The UK is offering full support to Jamaica and many Caribbean countries in the aftermath of the hurricane. The Foreign Office is delivering humanitarian assistance to affected areas, including through specialist rapid deployment teams in the region to provide consular assistance to British nationals. Our thoughts are obviously with the people of the affected area but they are also with those in this country of Caribbean heritage, who will be particularly worried at this time.

This week, the House marked 75 years since the House of Commons Chamber was rebuilt from ruins after it was bombed during the second world war, and I thank Mr Speaker for the events that he has organised this week to mark this important anniversary. As we approach Remembrance Sunday, I was pleased to announce the general debate on the contribution of our armed forces, which will take place on Armistice Day. At this time each year, our nations come together to give profound thanks to the men and women of our armed forces and veterans—heroes who sacrifice so much for our country.

I also thank Mr Speaker for the Speaker’s Conference, which has brought forward its second report, with recommendations aimed at tackling abuse and intimidation towards MPs and candidates. I thank the conference for this important work. The Government will look closely at the recommendations, not least through my role on the defending democracy taskforce.

I would like to express my personal thanks to Mike McCarthy BEM, who is departing from the Government Whips Office this week, having served every Government since 1987. I hope the whole House will join me in wishing him well. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”]

On the shadow Leader of the House’s remarks about the recent election of a new Labour deputy leader, I would gently point out that this was done by taking the matter to the members of the party, who made their choice—and a very good choice, indeed. That stands in stark contrast to what has happened on the Opposition Benches, where the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick) has simply foisted himself on the Conservative party as the unofficial deputy leader.

May I place on record my thanks to the Leader of the House for all his support? He was a brilliant Chief Whip, and at least now the nation gets to share his wit and wisdom.

May we have an urgent debate on the accountability of institutions for the use of public money? Walsall College and Walsall council are closing the iconic Leather Museum against the wishes of local people, but no financial information is available. Please could we have such a debate on financial information and accountability?

My right hon. Friend is a great champion for her local community, and she is right that local people need to be involved in decisions that affect their local community. She has put on record her concerns, but I would encourage her to go even further on this matter, perhaps by applying for an Adjournment debate.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

I associate myself with the comments about hurricane victims and, indeed, with the comments about Prunella Scales.

Earlier this week, we were treated to the delight of a Conservative Opposition day, and the main thing we learned is that the Conservatives do enjoy being in opposition. We had the shadow Housing Secretary, the right hon. Member for Braintree (Sir James Cleverly), decrying the housing crisis that their Government left behind, and the former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the right hon. Member for Central Devon (Sir Mel Stride), committing to reducing the welfare bill that went up on their watch.

We hear that we are to get yet another Conservative Opposition day next week. The Conservatives are set to get 17 days to the Liberal Democrats’ three in this parliamentary Session. We would just gently suggest that, if we want to elevate the debate in this Chamber, we may want to redress that balance in the next Session.

How many does Reform get?

Moving on to fraud—speaking of— I would like to focus on how fraud destroys lives. It eradicates people’s savings, it plunges people into debt and it diminishes people’s faith in human nature. Fraud is on the rise—it is up by almost a fifth—and it makes up nearly half of all crime in the UK.

I know that the Government are set to release a fraud strategy soon, but there are worrying reports that a key component is about to be ditched. British banks pick up the tab for fraud in this country. They are the ones who reimburse the victims, even though the vast majority of fraud these days happens on online platforms. The Prime Minister himself recognises this, saying before the election that tech companies have a clear obligation and should have a clear financial incentive to tackle fraud. That commitment is what we are worried about being dropped—apparently to appease American President Donald Trump.

The Government sent a gushing letter to big tech CEOs over the summer congratulating them on their efforts in tackling fraud, but UK Finance and the Financial Conduct Authority both disagree and say that big tech companies are not doing enough. Can the Government publish their fraud strategy and commit to holding big tech companies to account, ensuring that they are hit in the pocket for not tackling fraud?

I will first respond hon. Member’s point about Opposition days, as I have announced not just one but two of them. This might be a matter that he wishes to draw to the attention of the Modernisation Committee. I am going to defend the official Opposition here and say gently to the hon. Member that the official Opposition do have a particular role in the constitution, and we need to be very careful before we start changing that simply because an election can produce particular numbers of seats for other parties.

I thank the hon. Member for raising the fraud strategy. Fraud is a hugely important matter for many of our constituents, and it remains a huge challenge and one of the most commonly experienced crimes in our country. As he points out, we will bring forward a new strategy later this year to protect consumers and businesses. We need everyone to play their part in that, and we continue to urge tech and social media companies to take stronger action to stop consumers being defrauded when using their sites. Writing to and asking them to do that does not necessarily equate with ditching any pledge we have made.

Last week I had the honour of joining the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Jan and Len—AKA Team Pritchard—in West Thurrock cemetery in my patch to learn more about their work. Thurrock has 82 Commonwealth war graves, and Jan and Len have volunteered to take care of them and make sure that all the names are visible so that the sacrifice of those men and women is properly remembered. As we come to the month of remembrance, will the Leader of the House join me in thanking volunteers like Jan and Len for all that they do to make sure that those who sacrificed so much for our country are properly acknowledged and that tributes are paid in the most appropriate way?

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this, as she points out, very timely question. First, let me thank the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for all its fantastic work. There are not many, if any, constituencies around the country that are not affected by its work in one way or another. Let me also place on record my thanks and the House’s thanks for the many, many volunteers across our country who work with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and do excellent work to ensure that we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Order. Colleagues can see that it will be impossible for me to get everybody in, particularly if you are 13 minutes late—Mr Grahame Morris, you will most definitely not be getting in. [Laughter.] I call Martin Vickers.

The Chair of the Backbench Business Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), sends his apologies, so I am standing in for him. It is unfortunate that we are going to miss an opportunity for Backbench Business time next Thursday, but could the Leader of the House reconsider the following Thursday? We will have Lords amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, and that is likely to finish early, so perhaps there could be an hour or two at the end of the day for additional Backbench Business.

In Westminster Hall, there will be a debate next Tuesday on the impact of reductions in official development assistance on international development. On 11 November, there will be a debate on support for dyslexic pupils at school. On 13 November, there will be a debate on modern day slavery in Pakistan. On 18 November, there will be a debate to mark the 80th anniversary of UNESCO, and on 20 November, debates on inequalities faced by unpaid carers and World COPD Day.

Turning to my own question, I have raised on a number of occasions the impact on my local community of the possible closure of Lindsey oil refinery. There is growing concern among union representatives, the local community and possible investors in the refinery, that the Government do not favour a bid that takes in the entire site and continues refining products. Indeed, one potential investor is considering a judicial review of the process. Will the Leader of the House arrange for a statement from the relevant Minister in the next few days?