Business of the House

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and John Bercow

Thursday 17th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I warmly appreciate what the Leader of the House has said about the staff of the House. I think it will be warmly appreciated by Members throughout the House and, above all, by those staff, who have been very properly acknowledged and congratulated. I thank him for that.

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

May I take this opportunity to thank you, Mr Speaker, for allowing the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to use the House? The House did itself proud, and many of the delegates, from all around the world, including partner nations, were very impressed by what we are able to do here.

Thousands of women in the UK suffer from the debilitating, chronic disease of endometriosis. Despite employment law requiring employers to support employees with medical conditions, many women find themselves forced out of work, with little redress, especially because, on average, diagnosis can take seven to 12 years. May we have a debate on workplace practices for women who are suffering with this terrible disease, so that they do not have the trauma and stress of losing their jobs, on top of having to deal with a debilitating condition that destroys their work lives, as well as their personal lives?

Business of the House

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and John Bercow

Thursday 12th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

About a year ago, I held an Adjournment debate in this Chamber about young Harry Whitlam, who was killed by a drunk-driver of a tractor. This man was three and a half times over the limit and he crushed Harry, in a totally avoidable accident—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

I apologise to the hon. Gentleman, but the acoustics have not been great in the Chamber this week and a number of times Members have not been fully heard. I heard someone who wanted to hear the hon. Gentleman saying that he could not hear. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman could just boom a bit.

[Alec Shelbrooke]

It is not often that has been requested of me.

Harry was 11 when he was killed by the tractor. As the accident took place on private land on a farm, the driver could only be charged under health and safety legislation and he got an 18-month sentence—for a totally avoidable accident. In my earlier debate, I asked for the law to be looked into so that we could get parity of esteem, whereby accidents on private land should have the same consequences in law as accidents on public land. The Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman), met me, the family and their solicitor last October. I have received letters since then outlining that the Government want to move forward with this but it is a complicated case. Tomorrow, it will be one year since I had that Adjournment debate and I am no clearer as to where the Government are on this. May I therefore ask my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House whether the relevant Minister could come to the Chamber to give us a statement on where this sits and how progress is being made?

Leaving the EU

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and John Bercow

Monday 9th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

In noticing the hon. Member for Elmet and Rothwell (Alec Shelbrooke), I note with approval that the bright shirt he is wearing is more reminiscent of Arsenal than of West Ham.

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

Thank you for that endorsement, Mr Speaker.

My constituency contributes roughly half a billion pounds to the GDP of this nation, mainly through small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the most important thing we must achieve is that those small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the lifeblood of this country, are able to supply the big companies, no matter where they are able to trade, and that this deal allows them to expand in all other parts of the world as well?

NATO

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and John Bercow

Wednesday 20th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alec Shelbrooke]

I will not give way.

I believe we need at a future date to spend time in the House discussing the relationship between PESCO and NATO in order to advise the NATO Parliamentary Assembly how to take this forward.

[Mr Speaker]

That is extremely generous of the hon. Gentleman.

Military Action Overseas: Parliamentary Approval

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and John Bercow

Tuesday 17th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

People were gassed.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Mr Shelbrooke, be quiet. I know that you feel strongly, and I respect that, but I am not having you shouting out. You either undertake now to be quiet, or I strongly advise you to leave the Chamber for the rest of the debate. Stop it. You are well-intentioned and principled, but you are over-excitable and you need to contain yourself. If it requires you to take some medicament, then so be it.

Salisbury Incident

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and John Bercow

Wednesday 14th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

While we have been sitting here, the political journalist Tom Newton Dunn has tweeted:

“Corbyn’s spokesman clarifies he does not believe there is proof yet that Russia is responsible for #Salisbury—and MI5/MI6 may be wrong: ‘There is a history between WMDs and intelligence which is problematic, to put it mildly’.”

Will my right hon. Friend reiterate the faith that she has in the intelligence services to be absolutely certain about the evidence that she receives? [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. This is not so much about the views of a journalist. The hon. Gentleman is in order to ask for the views of the Prime Minister on the intelligence services, and that he has done. That is perfectly orderly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and John Bercow

Wednesday 20th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

In the 1980s, Mrs Thatcher famously commented to the Vietnamese—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. This is very discourteous, and very unfair on the hon. Gentleman. Let us hear the fella.

[Alec Shelbrooke]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. As I was saying, in the 1980s Mrs Thatcher famously asked why, if Vietnam was so wonderful, millions of people were getting into boats to leave it. With that in mind, may I ask my right hon. Friend, as she enters the second phase of the Brexit negotiations, “If World Trade Organisation rules are so wonderful, why do so many countries seek WTO trade agreements?”

HS2 Update

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and John Bercow

Monday 17th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Ah yes, the man in the cream suit: Mr Alec Shelbrooke.

[Alec Shelbrooke]

Bringing some brightness to this late hour.

May I say to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State that the jobs bonanza that will come with moving the depot to Stourton is hugely welcome to Leeds, the Aire valley and my constituents? On the conversation that I had with the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones), and on the tunnelling that will take place under Woodlesford, has the Secretary of State given consideration to the site on which the depot will sit? Has he considered putting all the tunnelling equipment and the spoil on brownfield land, so as to minimise the disruption to my villages of Woodlesford and Oulton, and the traffic around them, during construction?

Humanitarian Situation in Mosul

Debate between Alec Shelbrooke and John Bercow

Wednesday 12th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Ah, a competition between cream-suited colleagues. I call Mr John Baron.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I do not want the hon. Gentleman to feel left out: I call Mr Alec Shelbrooke.

[Alec Shelbrooke]

In all my elections, I have proudly stood in support of our manifesto commitment to spend 0.7% of GDP on international aid, although many people have criticised it. Does my right hon. Friend agree that in situations such as these, such a commitment is not only morally right but enables us to invest in Iraq? A lot of the situation with Daesh in Mosul came about because the residents were worried about divisions in the Baghdad Government. It is investment from this country through my right hon. Friend’s Department that allows people to be educated and ensures that that Government will work for the entire country to prevent this happening again.