Business of the House

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Thursday 15th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

I join others in paying tribute to the late Sir David Amess. He was always here for business questions, with a topical question and a smile on his face.

I thank the Leader of the House for announcing the business on 26 October in the Chamber. Given the experience on Monday, I thank him for giving protected time for the baby loss awareness debate. Considering how many times the issue was raised at Business, Innovation, Science and Trade questions this morning, the debate on the performance of Royal Mail is likely to be extremely well attended. Will the Leader of the House consider giving protected time for those two debates, particularly if there will be Government statements or urgent questions?

The business in Westminster Hall for next week is as follows. On 20 October, there will be a debate on manufacturing skills. On Thursday 22 October, there will be a statement from the Science and Technology Committee, followed by a debate on compensation for Equitable Life policyholders, followed by a debate on the legacy of the Jarrow crusade on its 90th anniversary. On 27 October there will be a debate on recognising the production and serving of cask ale as an intangible cultural heritage. Personally, I prefer drinking it to talking about it. On Thursday 29 October there will be a debate on the mandatory safeguarding 24/7 of helipads at major trauma centres, followed by a debate on the role and effectiveness of Ofcom.

I have a couple of housekeeping notes. We are short of a Labour Member on the Backbench Business Committee; I hope that space will be filled quickly. This week we had a problem, because we had the bare quorum needed to do our business. We had an application for a debate on Black History Month, but I note that is now a Government debate. The risk is that the Front Benchers will get two bites at the cherry, which reduces the time for Back Benchers to contribute. This would have been a Backbench Business Committee debate, led by Back Benchers, but I completely understand the Leader of the House wishing to offer a general debate on the subject.

We are halfway through Navaratri, a celebration for Hindus across the world. It is a joyous occasion. Last Saturday, I attended the World Sindhi Congress, and this week I received a delegation of ex-Bangladeshi politicians and Sanatans. They raised the same issue: the plight of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh is desperate right now. I receive messages literally every day about atrocities committed against the Hindu population of Bangladesh and Pakistan. I know that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is concentrating on the illegal war between Russia and Ukraine, and the crisis in the middle east, but could we have a statement on what the Government will do to help protect those minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

As ever, I thank the hon. Gentleman for his work chairing the Committee, and indeed I thank the whole Committee for its work. On the baby loss debate, not only was the allocated time protected, but there was an element of discipline, which I welcome. I do not think the approach is perfect, but we are getting there. I will bear in mind what he says about Monday 26 October. My initial reaction is that it is not always necessary or welcome to have guaranteed time for debates, and perhaps we should take this on a case-by-case basis, but I will give some thought to what he says. I take away the point about ensuring that the Committee has full membership, and I will seek to ensure that the issue is resolved as quickly as possible. I will also ask the Front-Bench spokespersons for Black History Month to bear in mind what he said, and to ensure that in the debate on the subject, Back Benchers—it would probably otherwise have been a Backbench Business debate—get the time that they need.

I will get to the hon. Gentleman’s serious point about the protection of minorities, but it would be remiss of me not to send our most heartfelt condolences to the friends and family of those impacted by the tragic school collapse in Pakistan; news of it came out overnight. I hope the whole House will join me in sending our heartfelt best wishes to those communities. On the treatment of Hindus and others, the UK strongly condemns all instances of hate or violence directed towards minority religious communities in Pakistan, including Shi’a Muslims, Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus and Sikhs. We work with the international community to promote human rights, in partnership with Pakistan, but I will draw the hon. Gentleman’s comments to the attention of the FCDO. I hear what he says about there being lots of other things going on, not least what is happening in Ukraine and the middle east, but that is no excuse for our taking our eye off the ball in situations where we can do something to help.