Air Quality Strategy

Debate between Carol Monaghan and John Bercow

Monday 24th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

I call Carol Monaghan.

[Carol Monaghan]

Good choice, Mr Speaker. Electric vehicles will reduce emissions in our city centres and improve urban air quality. Without support for renewables, however, any air quality plan simply shifts pollution from urban to rural areas because such electric vehicles need to be plugged into the grid to charge. Does the Secretary of State agree that support for renewables is key when we consider future electric vehicles and should be included in any air quality plan?

Point of Order

Debate between Carol Monaghan and John Bercow

Tuesday 17th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Last week during Department for Work and Pensions questions, I asked the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work how people with mental health issues could continue to receive appropriate support if the Glasgow jobcentres were closed. The Minister responded by saying that

“my hon. Friend the Minister for Welfare Reform has met Scottish Ministers to discuss the issue.”—[Official Report, 9 January 2017; Vol. 619, c. 15.]

First, there is currently no Minister for Welfare Reform. Secondly, I have been informed by Scottish ministerial colleagues that no such meetings have taken place. Would it be in order for the Minister to come back to the Chamber to clarify the situation?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving me notice of her point of order, to which I was about to respond, but I see that the Minister in question is on the Treasury Bench and is anxious to catch my eye. I do not want to disappoint her.

[Mr Speaker]

That was a gracious acknowledgement of the situation by the Minister, and I feel that honour has been served.

[Carol Monaghan]

indicated assent.

[Mr Speaker]

The nod of the head from the hon. Member for Glasgow North West (Carol Monaghan) confirms that she is content with that outcome. I thank the Minister, and we will leave it there. If there are no further points of order, we come now to the ten-minute rule motion, for which the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr Burrowes) has been patiently waiting for nearly two hours.

New Partnership with the EU

Debate between Carol Monaghan and John Bercow

Tuesday 17th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

I will come to the hon. Lady in a moment.

I am most grateful to the Secretary of State for the experience of the last one hour and 46 minutes in which we could treat of these matters, and I am advised that no fewer than 84 Back-Bench Members had the opportunity to question the right hon. Gentleman. I hope there has been a decent exploration of the issues, and I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on the strength of his knee muscles.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Carol Monaghan and John Bercow

Wednesday 12th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The Secretary of State and his daughter did a fantastic job as well, as did the constituency Member of Parliament.

[Carol Monaghan]

Given that Brexit continues to be billed as taking back control, will the Secretary of State tell us which of the powers currently controlled by Brussels the UK Government will commit to giving to Holyrood and which will be re-reserved to Westminster?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Carol Monaghan and John Bercow

Monday 13th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

If she can ask her question in one short sentence, I shall call Carol Monaghan.

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

Will the Secretary of State work with organisations such as the Red Cross to explore alternative ways of submitting family reunion applications, to avoid dangerous journeys to third-party countries?

[Mr Speaker]

The Minister has less than 15 seconds to respond.

“Educational Excellence Everywhere”: Academies

Debate between Carol Monaghan and John Bercow

Monday 9th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

I thank the Secretary of State for today’s statement. Many school communities will also welcome today’s announcement. Although I, like many teachers across these isles, would love to think that the Government do listen to teachers, the reality seems to be that this embarrassing U-turn on a centrepiece Budget announcement has been brought about by a handful of the Government’s own Back Benchers. Those who have the greatest impact on the success of a school are teachers, and a first-rate headteacher can turn a school around regardless of whether it is an academy, but there is no doubt that this grand plan has caused great anxiety, and teachers who are already struggling with severe workload issues have had an additional burden placed on them by the academisation plan. The Secretary of State says that academies allow schools the freedom to innovate with the curriculum—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Mr Austin, you are as noisy now as you were in the debating chamber of the University of Essex student union where you noisily, belligerently and discourteously heckled me 30 years ago. [Interruption.] Order. The hon. Lady—and all Members—must be heard with courtesy. May I gently say to her that her chance of getting a courteous hearing will be increased if, rather than making a statement, she asks a question?

[Carol Monaghan]

The ability of schools to set their own pay scales will raise questions around teachers’ pay and recruitment, and there is concern that the long-term impact of academies will mean higher salaries and better terms and conditions in some better-funded academies. What consideration—[Hon. Members: “Hooray!”] I am glad that I amuse the House. What consideration has the Secretary of State given to teacher recruitment in poorer areas in terms of being able to attract the teachers they need to raise attainment? We in the Scottish National party are firmly committed to national bargaining in the public sector. How will she ensure that, by abandoning nationally agreed pay scales, this will not affect recruitment and retention in more challenging schools?

Points of Order

Debate between Carol Monaghan and John Bercow

Monday 25th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I apologise to you for attempting to raise it earlier, at an inopportune moment, but I was so outraged by events that took place during our exchanges on the urgent question about shipbuilding on the Clyde that I became over-enthusiastic. In 20 years of teaching in a comprehensive school in Glasgow, I was never subjected to language such as that to which SNP Members were subjected by the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock). May I ask you, Mr Speaker, how we should go about making an official complaint?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order. Before I respond—I will have some words to say—I of course invite the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock) to respond.

Shipbuilding on the Clyde

Debate between Carol Monaghan and John Bercow

Monday 25th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We can come to points of order later. I say to Carol Monaghan that I do not know what has exercised her, but we cannot deal with the matter now. We will have points of order afterwards, when I will happily hear her. [Interruption.] There is a certain amount of gesticulation going on. Members on the Labour Benches and the SNP Benches should calm down. I will come to the point of order at the appropriate time if it is still germane. Now, we must all unite in hearing Mr Tom Pursglove.

--- Later in debate ---

[Carol Monaghan]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

Points of order come after statements, and there are a number of statements. That is the way in which we deal with these matters, and that is how it will be handled today.

Business of the House

Debate between Carol Monaghan and John Bercow

Thursday 21st April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

My constituent Munir Butt arrived in the UK as an eight-year-old child with his parents and siblings 48 years ago, in 1968. He has lived his whole life in the UK: he has been educated here, and he has married and has two grown-up children. When applying for a new job last year, he was asked to produce a passport—something he never had before—and he was then told that he is here illegally. I have written to the Home Secretary about the issue, and I have yet to receive a response. The Home Office approach seems to centre on my constituent’s parents’ marriage certificate from rural Kenya in the late ’50s. All his siblings have passports. My constituent has no income now and cannot apply for benefits because he is believed to be here illegally.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I say very gently to the hon. Lady that I recognise this is an extremely serious matter, but—this is by way of a tip to her and other Members—it is always a good idea, whatever the matter at hand, to get in the request for a debate or a statement early in one’s inquiry. In any case, I feel modestly optimistic that the question mark is on its way.

[Carol Monaghan]

Thank you for your tip, Mr Speaker. Will the Leader of the House agree to a debate on the residential status of historical immigrants?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Carol Monaghan and John Bercow

Monday 25th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

The Government’s plans for introducing 30 hours of free childcare for working parents have rightly received cross-party support, but, as we have already heard, there is still some way to go with regard to parents seeking employment. What work will the Minister do with parents who are currently seeking employment to enable them to access the childcare?

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Lady appears to have phoned not one friend, but two. We are deeply grateful to her and to those hon. Members.