Business of the House

Anthony Mangnall Excerpts

Thursday 14th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

The UK is a world leader in this area. I shall ensure that the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero hears what the hon. Gentleman said, given that the next questions to the Department are not until 16 April, but we have a good track record across the UK in this area, and we will want that to continue.

[Anthony Mangnall (Totnes) (Con)]

I feel that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been robbed of its time in this place. Last year, the Leader of the House was kind enough to ensure that we had the full hour for oral questions on our countryside, our fishermen, our farmers and the environment, but we have slid back to 40 minutes. May I please ask that we get the full hour again to discuss those important topics?

[Penny Mordaunt]

My hon. Friend is diligent in ensuring that he has enough time and opportunity to scrutinise that Department. I understand why that is a priority for him and the constituency that he represents. He knows that deciding how we divvy up time is a complicated Rubik’s cube problem. I was sympathetic to the case he made last time, and I will raise the matter with business managers.

Business of the House

Anthony Mangnall Excerpts

Thursday 1st December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As well as the work we are doing on trade deals and memorandums of understanding, which I spoke about earlier, the Procurement Bill will slash red tape, replacing 350 EU regulations with one simple, flexible framework for our SMEs. Just over the past year, they have won a record £19.3 billion in Government procurement spending. We want them to be able to do more, and I thank my hon. Friend for raising the issue.

[Anthony Mangnall (Totnes) (Con)]

A few weeks ago, I asked the Leader of the House whether it would be possible to extend the time allocated for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs questions, so that we can talk about food, farming, agriculture, fisheries, the environment and our rural communities. Could this possibly happen immediately—or sooner?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I would have said that I hope it will happen soon, but I can actually tell my hon. Friend that it will happen on 12 January 2023, because we are extending EFRA questions to a full hour. I congratulate my hon. Friend on his campaign for that to happen, and I hope his farming community and others’ are pleased about that.

Business of the House

Anthony Mangnall Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Lady for raising that issue. She will know that as part of today’s business, Members will be able to make some progress on that. I know it is connected to a whole raft of things, and I will be happy to point the new Secretary of State towards the hon. Lady’s concerns.

[Anthony Mangnall (Totnes) (Con)]

There are not really enough hours in the day to speak about fishing and farming. With that in mind, will the Leader of the House please give Members more time in questions to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ask questions on rural affairs?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for reminding all Members of the House of the vital importance of farming, fishing and rural affairs. I shall certainly talk to the new Secretary of State about his concerns.

Business of the House

Anthony Mangnall Excerpts

Thursday 14th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

I did not myself receive an invitation to the Durham miners gala this year, but I recognise its importance. Nottinghamshire has a huge and proud mining history as well, and there are still a number of banners in my constituency. I know the pride that goes with those communities, and I hope the event went well.

[Anthony Mangnall (Totnes) (Con)]

I am delighted that the Government have such an ambitious outlook in seeking to sign as many free trade agreements as possible. Unfortunately, however, they have set in motion the process under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 in respect of the UK-Australia free trade agreement without allowing our International Trade Committee to present its report to the House and without providing a debate on the agreement. It is essential for all Members of Parliament to be able to give their views on the trade deals that we are signing, and to give our constituents a voice in this place. I know that this is ambitious, given that my right hon. Friend has already outlined next week’s business, but may we please have a debate on the UK-Australia free trade agreement before we ratify it?

[Mark Spencer]

The International Trade Committee had six months in which to examine the agreement before the commencement of the CRaG process. The Government’s commitment to holding debates on free trade agreements during that process is subject to the timeliness of requests and the availability of parliamentary time, and my hon. Friend will doubtless appreciate that there is a wide range of competing demands on time in the Chamber before the House rises for the summer recess.

Business of the House

Anthony Mangnall Excerpts

Thursday 25th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

This has to be seen in the context of the economy as a whole and what has already been done. The starting salary for a newly qualified nurse increased by over 12% in 2017-18, and the average nurse’s pay is now at £34,000 a year. The starting salaries for the lowest-paid, such as healthcare assistants and porters, have increased by 16% since 2017-18 from £15,404 to £18,005. So steps have been taken over the longer term to help those working for the NHS. In this current financial circumstance, there is a 1% pay increase for all NHS staff, but an additional 0.7% has been awarded for nurses. The NHS and nurses have been excluded from the general pay restraint because the country—the nation as a whole—recognises the extraordinary work they have done in the past year, the courage they have shown and the public service they have shown, and that has been rewarded as much as possible in these difficult financial circumstances.

[Anthony Mangnall (Totnes) (Con)]

This week, on 22 March, the United Nations released a statement about the conflict in Ethiopia relating to the Tigray region in which it outlined the gross violations of human rights, including sexual violence against women and rape. The UK has a long history in tackling this issue—since 2012 and the creation of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative—but unfortunately we have been somewhat muted on the subject. Will the Leader of the House push for further action from the Government so that we can have a statement when the House returns and ensure that the PSVI unit is deployed where possible to help those who are suffering from an outdated, horrific crime that we have a moral duty to respond to?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend raises an issue of greatest concern. I particularly commend my noble Friend Lord Hague for establishing the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative in 2012, which has had widespread support. The Government have received reports of widespread sexual violence perpetrated by different armed groups. These attacks ought to stop and those responsible for such crimes must be held to account. The protection of civilians is at the core of the UK’s response to the crisis. In Tigray, we will work to promote justice for survivors of sexual violence, provide support to survivors and children born of conflict-related sexual violence and prevent further sexual violence from occurring.

The United Kingdom has a zero-tolerance approach to abuse and exploitation in our aid programmes. UK-funded organisations operating in Tigray are aware of their obligations to protect beneficiaries from exploitation and abuse and of the need to manage such risks appropriately. We are working with the co-ordination system to ensure that collective mechanisms are implemented in Tigray. Prevention is central to aid.

I commend my hon. Friend for raising this issue. He said it was not getting enough attention. Thanks to him, it is now getting more attention. The issue has been raised, and it is one of fundamental importance.

Business of the House

Anthony Mangnall Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

You will be timed!

[Anthony Mangnall (Totnes) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend’s downing-in-one of a yard of ale is a very good idea, and I am happy to try to match him. Could he consider more time for Backbench debates, not least so that we can discuss the fine merits of Somerset and perhaps Devon as well, but also so that we can discuss the UK’s role in tackling gender-based violence and ending the silence that so many suffer?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

It is important that we get back to having the more general debates that my hon. Friend calls for. We have in the Standing Orders the number of debates that we must provide in this Session, and we will work with the hon. Member for Gateshead (Ian Mearns) to ensure that the Backbench Business Committee can schedule its debates when things are more back to normal. I commend my hon. Friend for his campaign on gender-based violence, which is important for us to highlight and to try to eradicate.

Remote Voting

Anthony Mangnall Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Anthony Mangnall (Totnes) (Con)]

I echo the statement that my hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs (Andrew Griffith) has just made, and I shall be brief. When decisions are made on a temporary basis, as the introduction of income tax was, they sometimes find their way of remaining for longer. The Leader of the House has been gracious enough to listen to the Procedure Committee and to the amendment, which will not be moved, so I hope he will be good enough to listen to the report. I do not wish to pre-empt the Committee’s findings, but if that report says that it is vehemently against or it finds significant problems within the system, I hope he will address that and listen to those findings before we rush into the implementation of that system.

As we have heard in some of the comments made by Members from parties across the House, it is very important to ascertain whether or not we can ensure that it is the Member voting; we need to make sure there is a lock for that and that the system is efficient. Depending on when each vote is brought to this House, it is very important that that can be done. It is important that the Government listen to the findings of that report, give it its due course and give their due deliberation.

Business of the House

Anthony Mangnall Excerpts

Tuesday 21st April 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

This is a matter of the greatest importance and I will pass on my hon. Friend’s concerns to the Secretary of State. Questions to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are not immediate; they are relatively late in the schedule, on 19 May, so we will see if this can be taken up more directly and swiftly.

[Anthony Mangnall (Totnes) (Con)]

I thank the Leader of the House for his responses this afternoon. On the point about business rates, my constituency has had a lot of business rates relief and, in certain cases, the small business grant has been exploited by owners of second homes. Will my right hon. Friend ask the Chancellor and his team to review how business rate reviews are dealt with, how the relief is granted and how the small business grants that are there for businesses at this time of need are issued, because they are being exploited?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

As I understand it, it is only available if second homes are genuinely used for businesses; if they are used for business purposes, the grant is available. That is fair and reasonable as long as they are being used for business purposes.