House of Lords Reform Bill

Debate between John Spellar and Nick Clegg

Monday 3rd September 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As far as I can remember, I have not sought to make any apology over the past 45 minutes. I feel that the Government have acted in good faith to try to generate cross-party support for a reasonable set of proposals drawing on a lot of work from other members of other parties over several years. It is a great pity that the hon. Gentleman and other colleagues felt that it was not possible to get behind that reasonable package of proposals with a timetable motion. The coalition agreement said that this Government were going to come forward with proposals to reform the House of Lords. We are not a think-tank. The Government do not talk about proposals just to float them idly in a newspaper article and then do nothing about them. If one is going to propose something as a Government, one proposes it with a view to actually doing something.

[Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)]

The Deputy Prime Minister has been ducking and diving on the question of the Boundary Commission review. Is he aware that the Boundary Commission has today written to all Members of Parliament saying that it proposes to publish its revised proposals on 16 October? That will involve a huge amount of expense. Why does he not shut this exercise down and save a shed-load of money?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Spellar and Nick Clegg

Tuesday 7th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

Last year, when Christopher Kelly’s committee published a report containing its ideas for a package of reforms of party funding, all parties made clear that it was inconceivable that any of us would advocate an increase in overall state funding at this time. I will therefore stipulate in my letter to the leaders of the other main parties that such an increase is not on the agenda for now. However, that does not mean we could not make progress on many other areas of party funding reform on what I hope would be a cross-party basis.

[Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)]

11. As Members know, if one of our constituents buys a car in all good faith and it subsequently turns out to have been stolen, he or she must hand it back. Will the Deputy Prime Minister’s examination of political funding explain why his party is insisting on holding on to the £2.5 million that it was given by the convicted criminal Michael Brown? Will the right hon. Gentleman give it back, or, at the very least, spare us the usual sanctimonious holier-than-thou sermon? [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”]

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

They liked that one.

As we have explained before, the Electoral Commission has made crystal clear that, given the knowledge and information available to the Liberal Democrat party at the time—well before my time as leader—the money was received in entirely good faith.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Spellar and Nick Clegg

Tuesday 11th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As I hope my hon. Friend is aware, the Localism Bill gives a raft of new rights to local communities and local people to make their views known on a whole range of issues, from local planning decisions to increases in council tax. In my view the Bill represents one of the biggest transfers of power not only from Westminster to the town hall, but onward from the town hall to all the local communities we represent.

[Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)]

T7. The Deputy Prime Minister has conceded that the Defence Secretary’s conduct fell below the standards expected, so why is he still resisting putting the case to the independent adviser on Ministers’ interests, which would allow due process so that the matter could be properly examined?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As I explained earlier, we have asked the Cabinet Secretary, in a way that is wholly familiar and traditional and, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, was done countless times by previous Governments, and as has been demanded by his party, to look into this, complete an investigation and produce a report, which is exactly what he is now doing.

Deputy Prime Minister

Debate between John Spellar and Nick Clegg

Thursday 14th July 2011 Ministerial Corrections

[Mr Spellar]

15. To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff were employed in his office on (a) 5 July 2010 and (b) the most recent date for which figures are available.

[Official Report, 5 July 2011, Vol. 530, c. 1161W.]

Letter of correction from Nick Clegg:

An error has been identified in the written answer given to the right hon. Member for Warley (Mr Spellar) on 5 July 2011.

The full answer given was as follows:

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

There were 14 members of staff employed in my private office on 31 July 2010. The precise figures for 5 July 2010 are not available. There were 17 members of staff employed in my private office on 30 June 2011.

The correct answer should have been: