Francis Report: Update and Response

Debate between Laurence Robertson and John Bercow

Wednesday 11th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

In calling the hon. Gentleman, I congratulate him on his wedding. We wish him a long and happy marriage.

[Mr Robertson]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

A good friend of mine, a consultant cardiologist, had his career ended and his life completely disrupted after he blew the whistle on the unnecessary deaths of patients at a hospital he worked at. It has taken him more than 12 years to win his case at a tribunal, and he still awaits compensation. These cases often manifest themselves in employment disputes, with trumped-up charges brought against the individual. What can the Secretary of State do to ensure that such things never happen again?

Points of Order

Debate between Laurence Robertson and John Bercow

Wednesday 5th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, which I chair, is looking into the administrative scheme for so-called on-the-runs, which caused a stay to be put on the prosecution of someone accused of carrying out the Hyde Park bombings in 1982, when four people were killed. One of the most important witnesses is of course the former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Mr Blair has failed to offer us any date when he could come before the Committee. He has not refused to do so, but in effect he has by not offering any date. He has offered to submit written answers, which I am sure you will appreciate is totally unsatisfactory. Given the importance of this inquiry, its sensitive nature and what it means to people in Northern Ireland and indeed beyond, I wonder whether you could advise the Committee how we might proceed.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order and for giving me notice of this matter. It is of course open to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, which the hon. Gentleman so ably chairs, to exercise its formal power to summon witnesses, but I hope it will be possible to resolve the issue without recourse to that. The hon. Gentleman has made his point and exposed the issue publicly. I am sure that the former Prime Minister intends no discourtesy and will swiftly respond.

For the record, I can also advise the hon. Gentleman that some years ago, when I served as a member of the International Development Committee under the chairmanship of the right hon. Member for Gordon (Sir Malcolm Bruce), who of course continues to chair it, we asked to see former Prime Minister Blair in relation to the middle east peace process. Mr Blair did attend and addressed us knowledgably and with alacrity, so I hope the hon. Gentleman will keep his hopes alive.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laurence Robertson and John Bercow

Wednesday 26th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

Q12. May I—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Members are in a state of high excitement. One hopes that they are in a state of high excitement to hear the hon. Gentleman.

[Mr Robertson]

I thank the Prime Minister for visiting my constituency of Tewkesbury during the recent floods. We met in a village called Longford, which floods badly, yet there are plans to build 3,500 houses in that very area. Will the Prime Minister consider strengthening the planning guidance that he gives on flooding? Will he give stronger guidance to the Environment Agency, because there is a big difference, I am afraid, between rhetoric and what is happening in reality?

British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly

Debate between Laurence Robertson and John Bercow

Thursday 21st June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Robertson]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his very good intervention. Developing close relationships with the British-Irish Council would be a start, and we could report to that body about the assembly and sub-committee’s work. I wanted this debate to highlight the existence of BIPA and its work. There is a long way to go to get the Government to take on board what we are doing, but at least this is a start—the Minister is here and listening—and I certainly think the hon. Gentleman makes a very good point.

The plenary session was expertly arranged by the Irish members and secretaries. In particular, I pay tribute to my co-chairman, Joe McHugh TD, who is a skilled, dedicated and helpful co-chairman, for all his work and the support he gives me as a relatively new co-chairman. The legendary Irish hospitality was also on full display at the plenary session, as I am sure everybody can imagine, including at the President’s house. The Irish take BIPA very seriously, as was reflected in the Taoiseach’s speech that I read out earlier, but there has been suspicion and concern in the past—this is no reflection on the work done by my predecessors and previous BIPA members—that it is not taken quite as seriously on the British side. That is one reason I wanted this debate and why I am so pleased to have secured it. We are striving to match the enthusiasm and commitment of the Irish, and we will hold the 45th plenary session, from 21 to 23 October, in Glasgow. We look forward to going there. I said that there had been a trade or economic theme to the plenary in Dublin, and we hope to follow a similar line in Glasgow, when I am sure we will be treated to many interesting lectures and discussions about some of the products we might find in Scotland.

I would like to thank our staff on this side of the Irish sea, Robin James and Amanda Healy, for their hard work in putting all the meetings and everything else together. Without their help, we could not hold the meetings. We will be visiting Dublin next week for steering committee meetings, and on Monday we will discuss how we might move things forward, including how we might bring to the Governments’ attention the work of the steering committees, as was mentioned earlier.

Some people consider BIPA a talking shop, but, given the history between the two countries, particularly the terrible experiences in Northern Ireland, I would suggest that talking is extremely important for relations with Ireland and within Northern Ireland. Had we not had people talking in the past, we would not have achieved the relative peace we have in Northern Ireland—I say “relative”, because challenges still lie ahead. Just last night on “Newsnight”, there was a harrowing report about some activities in parts of Northern Ireland. There are people who want to wreck the peace process and return to the bad old days, so I would suggest that if BIPA is a talking shop, it is a very useful talking shop, because it enables us to get together with people who perhaps have different views and aspirations, but who all agree that democracy and talking to each other are the way forward.

As many people in Ireland said and continue to say, relations between our two countries are at an all-time high. I was greatly privileged last year to be in Ireland for part of Her Majesty’s visit, and I have to say it was an awesome visit. The success of the visit, of course, was down to Her Majesty’s enormous dedication and extraordinary talents, but it was also down to the extremely warm welcome and wonderful preparations on the Irish side. It really cemented relations to an extent that had not been seen before. We look forward to future relations with Ireland. If BIPA has made a contribution to the development of peace in Northern Ireland and the close relations between the UK and Ireland, I am pleased to be part of that, and I pledge to work as hard as I can to help steer the organisation in the right direction.

I do not want to speak for any longer, because several Members wish to speak, but I want again to thank you, Mr Speaker, and the Backbench Business Committee for allowing us the time to debate this issue and to bring to Parliament’s attention this body’s work and to report the news of its most recent activities.

[Mr Speaker]

The right hon. Member for Torfaen (Paul Murphy) will also have 10 minutes in which to speak.

Points of Order

Debate between Laurence Robertson and John Bercow

Wednesday 14th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The answer to the hon. Gentleman’s question is that I think that there is great merit in that proposition, which is in no sense a partisan or political one. If there is to be any change on this matter from what has happened this week or that, it is something that should usefully be discussed with the people who make these announcements. Rather than pronouncing upon that here, it would be better for me to talk to other people who are directly involved in these matters, and the upshot of any such discussion will become known to the hon. Gentleman sooner rather than later.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. We heard in Prime Minister’s questions about the difficulties being experienced in Northern Ireland. May I bring it to your attention, Sir, that the Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs is not yet up and running, despite the fact that I had the honour of being elected its Chairman some weeks ago? I am not making accusations, but I understand that the problem is that the Labour party has not submitted its names to the Committee of Selection. I understand that that Committee meets later today. Will you use your good offices to try to encourage the Labour party to submit its names, so that the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee can begin to undertake what could be very important work?

[Mr Speaker]

The difficulties that the hon. Gentleman describes in respect of his Select Committee apply also to a number of others. Of course, I am in favour of the speedy constitution and operation of Select Committees; but, sadly, that matter is not in my hands. I have no power in this regard, notwithstanding the hon. Gentleman’s enthusiasm to ensure that I have. I hope that that is helpful, but his point will have been heard, not least by those to whom he was indirectly addressing it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laurence Robertson and John Bercow

Monday 21st June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

T4. The Secretary of State was right to refer to the football World cup and the Wimbledon tennis tournament, which are taking place at the moment. May I remind him of the sport that attracts the second highest number of spectators in the country—horse racing? It continues to produce a magnificent sporting product, including the Cheltenham gold cup in my constituency and Royal Ascot, which was last week, but horse racing does not get the publicity that it deserves. Is there anything that the Secretary of State can do to help it to increase its profile, because it has many good—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Let me say to the hon. Gentleman that races must come to an end.