Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Bone Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The purpose of individual electoral registration is to make sure that those who vote are those who are entitled to vote, so the accuracy of the register is important as well. It is not just important, vital though it is, for voting, because identity fraud is often associated with a fraudulent entry on the electoral register. In fact, the Metropolitan police found that nearly half of fraudulent IDs corresponded with a fraudulent entry on the register. That is another good reason why this change is important.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Surely the way to stop a decline in individual registration is to make politics interesting. Is it not therefore essential that we continue with the leaders’ debates and that they should include the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the leader of the UK Independence party? Does the Minister agree that afterwards it will not be a case of “I agree with Nick” but “I agree with Nige”?

[Greg Clark]

All I would say is that my hon. Friend is a personal example of someone who makes politics interesting, and there is a good case for his being included in those debates for that reason.

Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Bone Excerpts

Tuesday 19th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

The right hon. Lady asks a specific question about a social value clause, and if she does not mind I will get back to her on that having consulted the Cabinet Office. More generally, she referred to apprenticeships of which, as she knows, I am as much a fan as she. Apprentices are now being taken on in 200,000 workplaces in the country, and I do not see why we should not be able to double that in a relatively short period of time, to give more young people a greater opportunity to take up apprenticeships and move into meaningful work.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

The coalition Government have been extraordinarily successful. Has the Deputy Prime Minister enjoyed his role, and would he like to continue as Deputy Prime Minister after the next election, and continue to enjoy support from MPs such as myself?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

Whether he is moustachioed or otherwise, I always enjoy the hon. Gentleman’s questions, although I usually wait for a sting in the tail, which did not quite come this week as it did last time. I am always grateful for his support in whatever qualified form it is provided.

Commonwealth Meeting and the Philippines

Peter Bone Excerpts

Monday 18th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes the important point that we must be helpful in the long term. I do not think it is possible now to predict exactly what the needs and priorities will be—we are still in the recovery phase—but proper work should be done to see what we can do to help. With our 0.7% of gross national income aid commitment, Britain is in the forefront of doing the right thing internationally. I am sure we can bring some of that to bear in the Philippines.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

The British people, seeing the television pictures from Sri Lanka of the Prime Minister smashing Muralitharan for six, will think that the Prime Minister is auditioning for a role in the England Ashes team. Afterwards, Muralitharan said that the situation in the north was improving. Would the Prime Minister like to comment on that?

[The Prime Minister]

First, I did not hit Muralitharan for six. Secondly, I think he was being quite gentle with me. I certainly could not read which way the ball was going to go and I was fairly lucky to hit it at all. He made a good point that a huge amount of progress has been made in terms of peace, stability and economic prosperity. His organisation is bringing together Tamils, Sinhalese and others to help forge the country together. He is doing amazing work and we should back that work. He also thought I was right to attend and to raise these issues. What he wants, as a proud Sri Lankan, is to ensure that a fair picture is painted of his country, and he is right to say that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Bone Excerpts

Wednesday 6th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What I would say to the hon. Gentleman is that we have taken 2.4 million of the poorest people in our country out of income tax altogether. The figures simply do not fit with the story he is trying to tell. Inequality is at its lowest level since 1986—fact. The pupil premium is directing more money to the poorest children in our schools—fact. Applications from disadvantaged children to universities have gone up, not down—fact. There are fewer workless households—[Interruption.] I am keen to answer the question, and it is a very direct answer. Workless households down by 425,000, payday lending regulated properly for the first time and, yes, a proper consultation on zero-hours contracts—those are the actions that we are taking to build a fairer country and instead of complaining about them, the hon. Gentleman should be backing them.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

On 3 September I wrote to the prisons Minister requesting a meeting to discuss the future of HMP Wellingborough. I received no response to that request. This week, I received a letter from the prisons Minister saying that the site of Wellingborough prison was to be sold. I do not understand that, as Wellingborough prison was the third cheapest in the country to run. Would the Prime Minister meet me and concerned constituents to discuss the matter?

[The Prime Minister]

What I will do is arrange very quickly for my hon. Friend to have that meeting with the prisons Minister that he asked for, so that he can discuss the future of the prison estate. It is important that we modernise it and make sure that we get good value for money for the people whom we keep in prison, and for the taxpayer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Bone Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call David Ruffley—not here.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Will the Government support my private Member’s Bill on 29 November, which is intended to give charitable status to religious institutions? Will they support it?

[The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Mr Nick Hurd)]

I have already told my hon. Friend that we will not. I understand that there is a lot of concern on both sides of the House about the Plymouth Brethren case, on which we are all united in wanting to see a quick and speedy resolution to that issue.

EU Council

Peter Bone Excerpts

Monday 28th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman in that I think an EU-US trade deal can add to the economies of the EU and the US. Britain is particularly well placed to benefit because these complex trade deals now help quite a lot with trade in services, where we have real expertise and a real comparative advantage. I do not agree with him, however, in that I do not think that we will secure Britain’s place in a reformed European Union if we just stick our head in the sand and pretend that there is not a real question mark hanging over our membership. The fact is that consent for our membership is wafer thin, and we need to change Europe and then have a referendum so that we can rebuild it.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

The Prime Minister is leading Europe in the efforts to end modern-day slavery. However, there are two countries in Europe that are in denial that it even exists. Did he have a chance to talk to the German Chancellor and the French President about this? If not, could he call them on their mobile phones, so that the Americans can find out about it too?

[The Prime Minister]

As I mentioned in the statement, the issues of trafficking and slavery were mentioned briefly at the Council. Britain is doing a good job in leading the way not only in applying the relevant European rules but in going above and beyond them to wipe out modern-day slavery here in the UK. That will put us in a stronger position to be able to turn round to other countries and say, “Look, this can be done in a way that does not add massively to costs but that is absolutely right for our countries.” I am very happy to have those conversations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Bone Excerpts

Tuesday 15th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Harriet Baldwin. Not here.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Could the Deputy Prime Minister let us have the Government’s view on having televised party leader debates before the next general election? Will he ensure that the fourth party is allowed to take part in the debate so that he would be able to speak? [Interruption.]

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

It is the sting in the tail that I always love. The hon. Gentleman must rehearse his questions endlessly—but they are good; it was a good one today. As he knows, that is not a subject, thankfully perhaps, of Government policy. It is a subject for discussion between the broadcasters, who will have their own views, and the political parties. He should speak to his own party leader about his party’s view on these things. I think that the innovation of televised leader debates was a good one. Millions of people found it a good opportunity to see how the party leaders measured up against each other and I think that we should repeat them.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Solicitor-General]

I have not had such a discussion, but if the hon. Gentleman would like to talk to me about the issue, I would be happy to do so.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Will the Solicitor-General press the Home Secretary to consider this matter in drafting the modern-day slavery Bill?

[The Solicitor-General]

The details of the Bill will be published in draft, so my hon. Friend will have an opportunity to contribute at that point. I pay tribute to the work that he does with the all-party group on human trafficking.

G20

Peter Bone Excerpts

Monday 9th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

They all agreed to take the necessary action on tax exchange with the UK, international tax co-operation and beneficial ownership, all of which was set out at the meeting I had with them. I cannot recall the exact timetable off the top of my head, but I will make this point: I do not think it is fair any longer to refer to any of the overseas territories or Crown dependencies as tax havens. They have taken action to make sure that they have fair and open tax systems. It is very important that our focus should now shift to those territories and countries that really are tax havens. The Crown dependencies and overseas territories, which matter so much—quite rightly—to the British people and Members have taken the necessary action and should get the backing for it.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Parliamentarians on both sides of the House will be extremely grateful to the Prime Minister for recalling Parliament and giving Members a vote on the Syrian question. In my opinion, the last two weeks have been the Prime Minister’s finest hour so far. Does he share my concern that, given that the Opposition’s amendment was so close to the Government’s motion, the Leader of the Opposition, who is a very honourable man, had not the statesmanship to put his disagreements aside and support the Prime Minister?

[The Prime Minister]

The Leader of the Opposition will have to give his own explanation. All I can say is that what I tried to do was put a motion before the House that included all the issues that had been raised with me. I wanted to bring the House together. The Opposition chose not to do that. I think that is a matter of regret, but the Leader of the Opposition will have to offer his own explanation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Bone Excerpts

Wednesday 4th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Ah, a Northamptonshire choice. I call Mr Philip Hollobone.

[Mr Maude]

Certainly, so far as the central Government estate in London is concerned, it will be down by well over a quarter, but that is only the beginning, because obviously property disposals and vacancies take time, for some of the reasons that the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) just referred to; that cannot be done literally overnight. We have made considerable progress already, however, as it is down by nearly a quarter and there will be much more to come.

[Mr Bone]

I am glad that my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) did not have the nerve to suggest that Government should relocate to Kettering, because he knows the place to come to is 50 minutes from London and it is Wellingborough. Will the Minister encourage Departments to move to Wellingborough, especially the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister?

[Mr Maude]

I can imagine that no relocation destination would be more popular with my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister than my hon. Friend’s constituency—or failing that, perhaps the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone).

Syria and the Use of Chemical Weapons

Peter Bone Excerpts

Thursday 29th August 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady makes an extremely serious point. As I have just said, in the end there is no 100% certainty about who is responsible; you have to make a judgment. There is also no 100% certainty about what path of action might succeed or fail. But let me say this to the hon. Lady. I think we can be as certain as possible that a regime that has used chemical weapons on 14 occasions and is most likely responsible for this large-scale attack, will conclude, if nothing is done, that it can use these weapons again and again on a larger scale and with impunity.

People talk about escalation; to me, the biggest danger of escalation is if the world community—not just Britain, but America and others—stands back and does nothing. I think Assad will draw very clear conclusions from that.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

The Prime Minister is making a very powerful and heartfelt speech. Could he explain to the House why he thinks President Assad did this? There seems to be no logic to this chemical attack and that is what is worrying some people.

[The Prime Minister]

That is a very good question. If my hon. Friend reads the JIC conclusions, he will see that this is where it finds the greatest difficulty—ascribing motives. Lots of motives have been ascribed. For my part, I think the most likely possibility is that Assad has been testing the boundaries. At least 14 uses and no response—he wants to know whether the world will respond to the use of these weapons, which I suspect, tragically and repulsively, are proving quite effective on the battlefield. But in the end we cannot know the mind of this brutal dictator; all we can do is make a judgment about whether it is better to act or not to act and whether he is responsible or not responsible. In the end, these are all issues of judgment, and as Members of Parliament we all have to make them.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

It is a great pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Oldham West and Royton (Mr Meacher). He made a powerful point, to which I want to return a little later.

May I thank you, Mr Speaker, and the Prime Minister for recalling Parliament? Today’s debate was absolutely necessary. It has been a very good debate. Party politics have not been involved. Hon. Members on both sides of the House have argued different points of view. That is what is good about today.

I have been under no pressure from my Whip to vote one way or the other. That is a really good sign. Hon. Members are wrestling today with a very difficult issue. I find these occasions, when we have to decide what is morally right and whether or not we will kill people and whether, by killing them, we save other people in the long run, immensely difficult. I have made it clear to the Prime Minister that I have not made up my mind tonight, and that my decision will rely entirely on the summing up by the Deputy Prime Minister—[Interruption.] I would like to thank the Deputy Prime Minister for spending much of the afternoon listening to the debate.

Thank goodness we have a British parliamentary democracy. We MPs can come here and influence the decision of the Executive. Everybody knows that MPs from both sides of the House have influenced the Prime Minister to change the position of the Executive. In the States, there are 100 Congressmen begging the President to let them debate the issue. We are so much better off in this House.

In response to what the right hon. Member for Oldham West and Royton said, the question is indeed what we should do to solve this exceptionally difficult problem, because just bombing will not solve it. There needs to be a disproportionate response. What I think President Obama has done is to have got out “The West Wing” series and looked at what President Bartlet would have done under the circumstances. There is exactly that episode: “If we bomb Damascus airport, we are going to kill thousands of people, but they will never do it again.” Of course, the expert then says, “If you do that, the whole world will be against you.” The President asks “Well, what do we do?” and the reply is, “You just bomb a few buildings, which have been emptied because everybody knows which buildings are going to be bombed.” The President says, “That will have no effect,” but the experts say, “Yes, but that is actually what you have to do. You have to have a response.” That may be how it works in America, but it does not work like that here.

I am very interested in one point that I hope the Deputy Prime Minister will help us with tonight. If we vote against the motion and both motions happen to be lost, does it mean that there is no guarantee that there will be a second vote in this House?