Election of Speaker

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Monday 4th November 2019 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Politics can be cruel. A young lad came up to me in Tonypandy the other day. He could not quite place who I was, but he knew he had seen me somewhere, maybe on telly. I said, “Well, maybe it’s because I am the MP for the Rhondda,” and he said, “No, that’s Chris Bryant—and he’s much younger than you.” For the record, I am 57, older than John Bercow.

Politics has, however, felt especially cruel in the past few years. Many of us feel battered and bruised, and many of the public feel that Parliament has been a bit of a bearpit, but we speak as we find and my personal experience from earlier this year, when I was wandering around looking like I was auditioning for the part of the monster in “Frankenstein”, was that there are untold, countless moments of personal, enormous generosity in this House, and most of the country would be enormously proud of the way we do our business if only they knew.

The truth is that politics is an honourable profession. Every single one of us in this House entered politics because we wanted to change the world for the better, and often the individual campaigns that we run touch millions of lives: just think of the campaign to get Brineura for children with Batten disease; think of the work that has been done on getting an inquiry on contaminated blood, or for that matter on children’s funerals or on people trafficking. There are so many different campaigns, including the one I dedicated myself to on acquired brain injury and melanoma. That is why it is so important that we revitalise and stand up for parliamentary democracy and return to the rulebook—stitch it back together.

I am standing because I love Parliament—I believe in parliamentary democracy and I want to do things properly. That means being a Speaker who has absolutely no favourites, who believes in standing by the rules, who is completely impartial, and who knows “Erskine May” inside out and back to front—I have it lying by my bedside—[Laughter.] All right! It means being a Speaker who is an umpire, not a player.

This is one of the most demanding jobs in British politics. For centuries it was said that it could be done only by a top-rate lawyer, and that is because the decisions that are made by the Speaker are of constitutional significance. You have to be quick on your feet. You have to be able to defend the decision and explain it in plain English.

There are things I want to do. I want to get Prime Minister’s questions back to 30 minutes. I want to publish a speakers list for debates so that you know when you will be called, and if you do not get called today you will get called first tomorrow. I want to call colleagues according to their relevance to the subject, rather than according to some idea of seniority. I want to stop the clapping—[Applause.] Yes, very funny! Can we return to waving the Order Papers? That is the traditional way. For that matter, I also want to stop the hectoring and the addresses to the Gallery.

I want to make sure that every single MP, their families and, importantly, their staff are safe in their constituency offices and in their homes. I want to make the timing of the parliamentary day more predictable, I want to increase the human resources department, and I want to—no, I do not just want to, I will sort out the wi-fi and the mobile signal.

Let me end with three Speakers from the past. The first is Betty Boothroyd, who, when she stood for Speaker, said:

“I say to you, elect me for what I am and not for what I was born.”—[Official Report, 27 April 1992; Vol. 207, c. 15.]

I was taught as a child to judge somebody not according to the colour of their skin, their religion, their gender or sexuality, what school they went to, what accent they spoke with or what part of the country they were from, but according to the strength of their character and whether they could do the job well. I hope you will all judge me in exactly the same way today.

The second speaker is Speaker Onslow who, in the 18th century, was the first speaker to say that he would

“be respectful and impartial to all.”

That will be my motto.

Most famously of all, the Speaker you all know, I guess, is Speaker Lenthall, who told Charles I:

“I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak, in this place, but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am”.

That is all I ask: the chance to serve.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Kenneth Clarke (in the Chair)]

Order. This is the result of the third ballot. The number of ballots cast was 565. The number of votes cast for each candidate were as follows:

Chris Bryant, 169 votes;

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, 267 votes;

Dame Eleanor Laing, 127 votes.

Two ballot papers were spoiled.

Those Members with adequate mental arithmetic will know that no Member received more than 50% of the ballots cast. Dame Eleanor Laing received the fewest votes and therefore leaves the contest.

Again, before I confirm the candidates for the next ballot, I invite either candidate who wishes to withdraw to inform me in the Chamber or to inform the Clerk Assistant in the Reasons Room within the next 10 minutes.

[Chris Bryant]

On a point of order, Mr Clarke. It might save the House 10 minutes if I just said that I am not going to withdraw at this point.

Early Parliamentary General Election Bill

Chris Bryant Excerpts

3rd reading: House of Commons & Committee: 1st sitting: House of Commons
Tuesday 29th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Dowden]

I will make some progress and then I will consider giving way. 

        There are principled reasons why we wish to have proper scrutiny of legislation for the Northern Ireland budget. It is essential for teachers, doctors and nurses in Northern Ireland to be paid.

There is a convention that elections are held on Thursday. Once again, the Opposition are trying to move the goalposts. Initially, the argument was that they did not want a general election on 12 December because they were concerned that the Government would somehow seek to ram through the Bill giving effect to the Prime Minister’s deal. Yesterday, at the Dispatch Box, the Prime Minister give an assurance on that. Now, they seek to contrive another reason artificially to create divisions in this House over moving the date by three days.

We have had three years to consider this matter. Will three days really make that much difference? That is in tune with a wider point. The public are getting more and more frustrated at this House endlessly coming up with procedural reasons that prevent us from getting on and doing the thing we want to do, as set out in this Bill—to have a general election to allow us to resolve the issue. We will resist the Opposition amendment to move the date of the general election.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

This is just a technical question. If the general election is on 12 December, when will the new Parliament sit and when will we have a Queen’s Speech? When this was last done in 1923-24, with the general election on 6 December, the Queen’s Speech was not until 15 January, which would make it difficult to get any serious business done by the end of January.

[Oliver Dowden]

I hope I can reassure the hon. Gentleman. The reason the Government wish to have a general election is to ensure that we have a sustainable majority to pass the Bill that implements the Prime Minister’s withdrawal agreement. Therefore, the impetus on us is to get that done as quickly as possible. I do not think that he will find delays from those of us on the Government Benches.

Debate on the Address

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Monday 14th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Ian Blackford]

You couldn’t make it up. We are trying to deal with the issue of abuse in politics, and someone shouts, “Will there be a hard border?” The point I was about to make is that, as far as we can achieve, I want any debate on Scottish independence to be respectful. It has to be about the future of our country. It has to be respectful of all points of view, and everybody has a responsibility to ensure that that takes place.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

One of the most depressing sets of conversations I have had in the last few days is with Members who have decided not to stand at the next general election; a number of them have said that they will not do so because they are frightened for themselves, their families or, more often, their staff. Regardless of the conversation about how we conduct ourselves in here and elsewhere, it seems ludicrous to me that it has taken more than three years for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and the House authorities to come together to agree protocols for ensuring that there are proper security arrangements in every constituency home and constituency office. Is it not time we got that right?

[Ian Blackford]

I commend the hon. Gentleman, because he speaks with absolute sense. We have to be cognisant of what is going on. I suspect there are not many Members of this place who have not had threats, many of them death threats. Let us be under no illusion: this is increasing—we all know it is increasing. Of course we need to ensure in particular that our staff members get protection. We have to cool the temperature in this place. We have to accept the position of leadership that we all have. The next few days are going to be absolutely challenging. Let us show some responsibility and leadership in what is a time of crisis.

--- Later in debate ---

[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

It is a great privilege to speak at the start of this debate celebrating a new parliamentary Session, especially after the paralysis of the domestic agenda since the last Queen’s Speech. While I recognise that we still have to deliver Brexit, and, contrary to what the Scottish National party leader, the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford) was just saying, it is refreshing to have the opportunity to talk about other issues that mean a great deal to people outside this place.

There is much to welcome in the Queen’s Speech, including further protections for our police officers, a possible ban on the import of hunting trophies, the continued passage of the Domestic Abuse Bill, the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill and the Commonwealth games Bill, making sure that Birmingham can deliver a spectacular event in 2022.

[Chris Bryant]

The hon. Lady mentioned the police. As she knows, in the last Session of Parliament, we brought forward—on a unanimous, cross-party basis—new legislation to protect the police and emergency workers. I hope that any new measures in the Queen’s Speech that might affect the police might also affect all emergency workers, because the number of attacks on emergency workers is still growing, but my anxiety is that the legislation that is already on the statute book is not being fully enforced. Do we not need to do that as well?

[Tracey Crouch]

I was very pleased to support the hon. Gentleman in that piece of legislation—the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018—and I now have a vested interest, in that my nephew has joined the police. It is very important that we protect not only our police officers but all our emergency workers, who do an absolutely fantastic job as first responders, so I support the hon. Gentleman very much in that initiative.

As someone who is working on a project to green a school in one of the most polluted parts of my constituency, as a signatory to The Times clean air pledge and as a member of the Conservative Environment Network, I very much welcome that the environment Bill will set out binding clear air targets as well as cutting plastic use, protecting biodiversity, reducing our carbon footprint and investing in better, cleaner technology. I hope that the Bill will get full cross-party support to make its passage through Parliament swift for the benefit of those—such as some of my constituents—who live in unacceptably highly polluted areas, as well as for the future generations of this country.

Prime Minister's Update

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Wednesday 25th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am delighted that my hon. Friend has mentioned that, with his characteristic acuity and his support of property and the rights of people across this country. Those would be despoiled if the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) ever got anywhere near power. He has a Maduro-esque plan to take away private property from great, great schools across the country of the kind he attended himself once, in an ecstasy of hypocrisy, and thereby to incur the taxpayer with £7 billion of pointless extra cost to pay for the education of the children concerned.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Since we will definitely be sitting for at least a few more days, would it not make more sense for the Government to bring forward something that the whole House can agree on? Two women are killed, on average, by their domestic partners every week of the year in this country. The Government have a Domestic Abuse Bill that is ready to go. Why do we not do Second Reading on Monday or Tuesday? The whole House would agree, we would be able to send it off to Committee and if we were eventually to have another Queen’s Speech, we would be able to have carry-over for it. It is time we defended the women of this country.

[The Prime Minister]

I quite agree with the hon. Gentleman; he is absolutely right. One of the reasons I wanted to have a Queen’s Speech was so that we could bring back the domestic violence Bill.

Brexit Readiness: Operation Yellowhammer

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Wednesday 25th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I think it is the case that we are absolutely committed to there being no hard border. One of the reasons is that—certainly governing the United Kingdom and Ireland, Great Britain and the island of Ireland—we have had a common travel area since 1922, and we are pleased to be able to maintain that. It is not the case that people will require any checks to travel between these two islands.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

I wish that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster had been able to join me over a Welsh cake last week in the kitchen at Llwyncelyn Farm, where I met farmers from the Rhondda and nearby. They do not have biblical concerns—they are not worried about plagues of locusts, or anything of that kind—but they have genuine concerns about what will happen to Welsh lamb, because 35% of it is sold in the European Union at the moment, and they fear that if there is a 48% tariff on it, they will end up having to burn carcases. They are also worried that there are not enough UK and national vets in the abattoirs and elsewhere to ensure that they can continue their business into the future. We are relying on migrants from elsewhere in the EU. Will the right hon. Gentleman come to the Rhondda to meet those farmers again, just to make sure that he really has everything in place to protect them if there is a no-deal Brexit?

Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Wednesday 4th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

We can take great pride in how the economy has performed since the referendum took place: record levels of employment; low levels of unemployment; and inactivity levels in Wales now that are better than the rest of the UK for the first time in decades. I look forward to the opportunities being a participant in new free trade agreements right around the world will give to the Welsh economy.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

rose—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Now the hon. Gentleman knows how popular he is, he has a right to have his question heard with courtesy. We will keep going for as long as necessary to ensure that that happens in every case.

[Chris Bryant]

I’m not sure it’s worth it, to be honest. [Laughter.] If the UK leaves the European Union without a deal, how will Welsh farmers be able to sell their lamb in the European Union?

[Alun Cairns]

I have already mentioned the positive engagement that we have with the farming and rural affairs community, and the new markets that are open to us. The hon. Gentleman, by voting last night in favour of a motion and by supporting the Bill tonight, will just prolong the uncertainty and will not allow farmers to prepare. We are determined to leave the European Union. We want to leave the European Union with a deal, but we must draw a line and move on to exciting economic opportunities thereafter.

G7 Summit

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I could not have put it better myself. I am very grateful to my hon. Friend.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

If a police officer in Tonypandy or Maerdy arrests a suspect, he or she can immediately, and in real time, consult all the EU databases of criminality, which is essential to being able to send criminals to prison. Border officers can also consult those databases when a person hands over their passport. If we leave without a deal, as the former Prime Minister rightly said, there will be no deal on security. How will we make sure that the people are safe if we leave without a deal on 31 October?

[The Prime Minister]

I have no doubt that we will continue bilateral arrangements with our EU friends to ensure that both of our populations are protected, but I am glad that the hon. Gentleman gives me the opportunity to remind the House that we are recruiting another 20,000 police officers to make this country safer and one of the safest in the world.

Priorities for Government

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Thursday 25th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

My constituents are not looking for handouts; they want to be able to stand on their own two feet. They are ambitious and want to get on in life and provide for their children, but just sometimes they have to rely on universal credit. As it is structured now, people do not get a penny for the first five weeks, unless they take out a loan from the Government. That loan puts them into debt from the moment they start on universal credit. Will the Prime Minister please, please look at taking away that five-week problem?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman, I am sure, knows that people can get a 100% advance on universal credit on day one, and as he knows—[Interruption.] Labour Members want to scrap universal credit, and I hear what they say, but the old welfare system kept people trapped in benefits. Two hundred thousand people are going to be lifted out of benefits and into work thanks to universal credit, and it has added massively to the incomes of 700,000 families across this country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd July 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I understand that my hon. Friend had a Westminster Hall debate yesterday on this issue, which raises a number of emotions and concerns across the House. We have upheld the right of religious slaughter, but this Government, as my hon. Friend will know full well, are taking steps to ensure that we monitor what happens in abattoirs through the introduction of CCTV.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Q6. I am guessing that the Prime Minister always wears factor 30 or factor 50 sunscreen when she goes on her walking holidays—including in Wales—because she knows full well that 90% of skin cancers are caused by harmful exposure to the sun. We quite rightly give free sunscreen to our armed forces, so is it not time to give it to our police officers when they are on duty, especially those standing outside the Palace in the blazing sun for many hours? Does she agree with her Health and Social Care Secretary, who says that it is time to remove the VAT on high-factor sunscreen, so that we can save lives?

[The Prime Minister]

VAT rules allow drugs and medications dispensed by registered pharmacists against a prescription issued by a qualified health professional to be zero rated for VAT. High-factor sunscreen can be on the NHS prescription list for certain conditions and is provided VAT-free in those circumstances.

The hon. Gentleman raises an important issue, but we should ensure that people do not just think that skin safety is about sun protection products, because leading cancer charities are clear that people should be taking several steps for protection, including avoiding long periods of sun exposure. I take his point that some jobs involve people being outside for periods of time, but we should all be taking all precautions.

G20 and Leadership of EU Institutions

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd July 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The nature of the European Union for the future will be a matter for the 27 remaining member states, because of course we will be leaving the European Union. I think it is right that those who have been appointed, or nominated, for those appointments are those who have shown their competence to undertake the roles in the future, but, as I say, how they shape that—how the future of the European Union is taken forward—will be a matter for the 27.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister on the wonderful face that she adopted when she was holding President Putin’s hand. It had more ice in it than the polar ice cap, and it said it all. He, as she knows, gave an interview to the Financial Times, saying that western-style liberalism was “obsolete”. I hope she was able to point out to him that, having the rule of law, with independent judges, free speech, freedom of assembly and free elections, is pretty good.

[The Prime Minister]

May I perhaps reassure the hon. Gentleman that, unlike a polar ice cap, on this issue I am not melting? [Laughter.] I did make the point to President Putin that liberal democracies have ensured greater prosperity and security for their people than any other system.