Points of Order

Jeremy Corbyn Excerpts

Wednesday 10th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the right hon. Member for raising that point. I always expect Ministers to take seriously correspondence from Members, whichever side of the House they are on. This is totally unacceptable. I cannot make a meeting happen, but I do expect people’s correspondence to be dealt with quickly and effectively. I hope those on the Treasury Bench will be listening very carefully and will make contact with the right hon. Member. As I said, this is not acceptable; I am getting more and more people complaining about ministerial correspondence—we have even heard of one case that took 12 months. It is not good enough. The ministerial teams need to get their act together and make sure that Members of Parliament, quite rightly, get a reply timely.

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Ind)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Thank you for what you just said in response to the point of order from the right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell). Is there any way you can ensure that a Minister comes to this House to give a statement about the hunger strikers in the prison? I visited one of them yesterday, and I am deeply concerned about what is going on in our prisons: people are being held for an inordinate length of time on remand, and their access to justice is being delayed.

[Mr Speaker]

I cannot guarantee that. I am not responsible for what goes on within this Chamber; I am here to keep good order. With another senior Member quite rightly raising a point of order on this issue, I hope that those on the Treasury Bench will have heard the message again. Who knows? It might be that there are different ways to ensure that the matter is brought to the attention of the Chamber. Both of you know how to do that, so I will leave it with you. Given the experience between you—I would hate to add up how many years—I think you know the answer to the question.