Contributions
681 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeI beg to move, That this House: (1) endorses the 2018 recommendation from the Committee on Standards in Public Life that Members should be banned from any paid work to provide…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeI thank the hon. Gentleman, but I must say the difference between this party and the Government party is that we are trying to do something about this. We have the proposals to do…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeYes; I am glad that my hon. Friend brought that up, because the Opposition have a problem with that. We have a problem with the fact that it is up to the Prime Minister to decide…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Dr Huq) for her intervention, because one thing we have learned over the past few…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeIt is interesting that the hon. Gentleman seems to have read the 2019 Labour manifesto. If he read it carefully, he would know that is not exactly what it said. It had a clear set…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeFor goodness’ sake. The hon. Gentleman said it himself: there is no direct payment to Members there. I am absolutely sure that the Conservative party accepts donations to its…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeWe learn something new every day. I was not aware of that, but I am on record as having been steadfast in my consistent criticism of what the Government have done over the past…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeThe hon. Gentleman gives me the opportunity to draw a contrast. When Labour Members do bad things, we make sure they go. None of them is here. That happens even when, as in the…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeThe hon. Gentleman is going to make another speech, Madam Deputy Speaker, but I will give way.17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeThe point about those standards is that they were set not by me or by the Leader of the House but by Lord Nolan three or four decades ago in response to a previous Tory sleaze…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeI do hope that there are no Conservative Members who have taken donations from anybody at any time, because these are donations to political parties—to political campaigns. They…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeThe hon. Gentleman has made an extremely helpful point and I hope he will be expanding on it further later. With the reputation of Parliament at risk of being ripped apart thanks…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeWhat we are doing today is starting the process of making Parliament accountable and making sure that there are good rules. We are making sure that when Members of Parliament are…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeThere are all these interventions from a sedentary position about the trade union movement; I have yet to see the Electoral Commission tell us that we should not be taking, and…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeI am grateful to my hon. Friend for putting it much better than I could have. Trade unions are not-for-profit organisations to help to support workers’ rights. There is a world of…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeOh goodness me! My right hon. and learned Friend the Leader of the Opposition, in contrast with the Prime Minister, is actually trying to strengthen the rules, not weaken them. In…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeI thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. It is a very sad day, because, rather than taking this on the chin, admitting they made a mistake, which they seemed to be doing last…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeI am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing that up, because, of course, that is one thing that my right hon. and learned Friend the Leader of the Opposition stated clearly in…17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeI have already given way to the hon. Gentleman and I am coming to the end of my speech.17 Nov 2021HANSARDStrengthening Standards in Public LifeFor goodness’ sake—I am surprised that the hon. Member does not know more about the House of Lords. Unlike in this House, Lords receive not a salary, but a daily allowance, which…17 Nov 2021