Contributions
1,244 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDPublic Procurement Regime: Draft Regulations Consultation Part 2Further to my statement on 19 June 2023, I am today launching the second part of a public consultation on the draft implementing regulations that will form part of a new…17 Jul 2023HANSARDBishops in the House of LordsThe hon. Member for West Dunbartonshire says from a sedentary position that he would like to see an elected upper Chamber here. Let us address that point. From the Conservative…06 Jul 2023HANSARDBishops in the House of LordsThe hon. Gentleman specialises in jokes of poor taste. The Government certainly do not seek to gag bishops in any way. I take the view that I think he takes, which is that Members…06 Jul 2023HANSARDBishops in the House of LordsI thank the hon. Gentleman for the point, which he has made several times in the debate. The truth is that we remain the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It…06 Jul 2023HANSARDBishops in the House of LordsThe hon. Gentleman is very generous to give way again. It is interesting to hear him talk about a big debate on the future of the constitution and about the involvement of…06 Jul 2023HANSARDBishops in the House of LordsIt is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Mr Davies. I congratulate the hon. Member for Edinburgh East (Tommy Sheppard) both on initiating the debate and on the manner in…06 Jul 2023HANSARDBishops in the House of LordsWill the hon. Gentleman give way?06 Jul 2023HANSARDBishops in the House of LordsI hope the hon. Gentleman will forgive me—I may be pre-empting what he is about to say—but what is the Labour party’s position on bishops in the House of Lords?06 Jul 2023HANSARDBishops in the House of LordsI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. He is making a very interesting speech. On a point of curiosity, if the worst were to happen and Scotland became independent,…06 Jul 2023HANSARDPublic Spending: Value for MoneyWe have established the Public Sector Fraud Authority to clamp down on fraud. As a former DWP Minister, I assure the right hon. Lady that this Government go after fraud wherever…22 Jun 2023HANSARDHonours NominationsNominations are, as my hon. Friend the Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose) will know, taken on merit. The criteria that we use are regularly reported to Government, with…22 Jun 2023HANSARDHonours NominationsMy hon. Friend is too modest to mention that he came up with this idea some time ago, and it is one that we have considered, but it is not one that we will be taking forward at…22 Jun 2023HANSARDHonours NominationsThe hon. Lady knows that there is a long-standing convention from 1895 that outgoing Prime Ministers have a resignation honours list. To put it in plain language for her, just…22 Jun 2023HANSARDResignation Honours Lists: ImpactMy Cabinet colleagues and I have frequent conversations about a range of issues, with a range of colleagues. To the question that the hon. Lady is pushing on, she will have heard…22 Jun 2023HANSARDResignation Honours Lists: ImpactThe list is not being rescinded. It has gone to the sovereign and has been approved.22 Jun 2023HANSARDResignation Honours Lists: ImpactThe honourable gentleman in question, as the hon. Lady will know, was also a very long-standing member of the London Assembly, and was successfully elected on a number of…22 Jun 2023HANSARDGovernment Agency Helplines: Response TimesWe know the frustration that my hon. Friend’s constituents, and indeed all constituents, feel when they are kept waiting on helplines. Departmental helplines are not managed or…22 Jun 2023HANSARDGovernment Agency Helplines: Response TimesI am sure my colleagues in HMRC will have heard my hon. Friend’s comments.22 Jun 2023HANSARDTopical QuestionsWe all remember the cash for honours scandal that happened under the hon. Gentleman’s party’s tenure, and we all know how many union barons are barons.22 Jun 2023HANSARDTopical QuestionsI cannot comment on the specifics of the case that the hon. Lady raises, but I can tell her that the Government Property Agency, which is based in the Cabinet Office, delivers…22 Jun 2023