Oral Answers to Questions

Jonathan Edwards Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vaizey]

I received my hon. Friend’s invitation and immediately sent it to my officials with a note stating, “This invitation comes from one of the most important Members of the House and a rising star, and we must take his concerns seriously.” He raises the important issue of disabled access, which we have already discussed in relation to sport.

[Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)]

The Government have spent the past year attacking FIFA following the World cup bidding process, but does the Minister think that a flimsy assurance from the organisation’s president is sufficient guarantee that a Team GB Olympic football team will not compromise the footballing independence of Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England?

[Hugh Robertson]

The key thing with FIFA is not what it says but what it does, and as far as the larger reform programme is concerned we will judge FIFA by its results. It has been absolutely categorical about this issue, and it is about time everybody stopped playing politics with it and remembered the athletes, who have an unbelievable opportunity to compete in a home Olympics. Can we get behind the athletes and stop playing politics?

Public Bodies Bill [Lords] (Programme) (No. 2)

Jonathan Edwards Excerpts

Tuesday 25th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)]

Some political gamesmanship took place during Thursday’s business statement when the debate on the Bill’s remaining stages was moved forward by a week. That left only 24 hours for Members to table amendments. At the time only one had been tabled, but over the past few days Members have made a gigantic effort to table a number of further amendments, which demonstrates the extent of the continuing concern about the Bill.

Of the 35 amendments that we shall debate today, 21 are Government amendments. Amendments that I tabled dealing with unfinished business relating to consumer advocacy in Wales were not selected owing to the shortage of Government time allocated to the Bill. It is clear that a single day’s debate will not be sufficient.

Business of the House

Jonathan Edwards Excerpts

Thursday 20th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I have signed the commencement order following the unanimous decision of the House on Monday to transfer responsibility for pensions to IPSA. IPSA now has responsibility for pensions, allowances and pay, and I think that that is the right place for all those things to be.

[Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)]

The Public Bodies Bill has significant implications for Wales, and not least for the future of S4C. Does the Leader of the House acknowledge that the Government are riding roughshod over the concerns that remain by leaving only 24 hours to table amendments? They have made these changes in the full knowledge that most Welsh Members are at the Welsh Grand Committee in Wrexham and are unable to protest here today?

[Sir George Young]

With respect to the hon. Gentleman, he has had two weeks in which to table amendments since the Bill came out of Committee. Only one amendment has been tabled. There is still adequate time for him to table amendments so that they can be considered on Tuesday.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jonathan Edwards Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that enticing offer. I travelled to Birmingham and Manchester, and tomorrow I am going to Belfast and Glasgow. I will certainly see whether I can put his constituency on the list as well.

[Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)]

In response to the Secretary of State’s plans for local TV in Wales, a senior BBC source was quoted in The Western Mail as saying that he is

“an advertisement for the devolution of every aspect of broadcasting policy to Wales without exception”.

Will he unburden himself and agree to such a sensible proposal?

[Mr Hunt]

Very unusually, this is an issue on which I find myself in disagreement with the BBC. I want to encourage local broadcasting, of course, but broadcasting should remain an issue for the national Government at Westminster.

Business of the House

Jonathan Edwards Excerpts

Thursday 9th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

There are no forces of darkness in my life. I will reflect on my hon. Friend’s point. It is not the case that the Backbench Business Committee has been offered only Thursdays. I think that the last day it was offered was a Tuesday. The Government have to balance the demands on time for Government Bills with the demands of the Backbench Business Committee. This will all be resolved in three years when we have a House business committee that can take a co-ordinated view. I commend my hon. Friend for his role in never letting us forget that we have a Backbench Business Committee.

[Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)]

Diolch yn fawr, Mr Speaker. During the recess, The Observer reported a seemingly rolling commitment by the British military mission in Saudi Arabia. May we have an urgent statement from the Government on the exact nature of the role of the BMM in training the Saudi national guard? It would seem slightly duplicitous to support pro-democracy movements in the middle east, while training the jack-boot forces that are quashing protests in the region.

[Sir George Young]

I understand the hon. Gentleman’s concern. There will be an opportunity next Tuesday at Foreign Office questions either to table a substantive question such as the one he has asked, or to ask a topical question. I will alert Foreign Office Ministers that such a question might be on the way.

Business of the House

Jonathan Edwards Excerpts

Thursday 19th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

It will certainly be constitutional legislation and it will certainly be taken on the Floor of the House, so I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. He has not been in the House quite as long as I have, but he will know that at times debate can be protracted and that on certain occasions it is necessary to curtail debate in order to make progress with the rest of a Bill, so I cannot guarantee that at no stage in the process of scrutiny of constitutional legislation will the House be invited to come to a decision. I rest on what I said in response to my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies). We are determined that the House should have adequate time to consider serious legislation and believe that we are already performing far better than our predecessors in that respect.

[Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)]

Following two damning reports from the Welsh Affairs Committee and the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, may we have an urgent debate in Government time on the unsatisfactory situation facing S4C, the Welsh language TV broadcaster?

[Sir George Young]

The hon. Gentleman may have an opportunity to develop the argument further when considering the Public Bodies Bill. Debates on Select Committee reports are now the province of the hon. Member for North East Derbyshire (Natascha Engel), who chairs the Backbench Business Committee, so he may like to present himself at 1 o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon at her salon.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jonathan Edwards Excerpts

Thursday 28th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Hugh Robertson]

Yes.

[Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)]

There is significant support among players and supporters in Wales for the creation of a Welsh national cricket team to compete in the one-day world cup and the Twenty20 world cup. A Welsh national team competed in the 1979 International Cricket Council trophy, so there is a precedent for this. Will the Minister raise this matter with the England and Wales Cricket Board to see whether this ambition can be achieved without endangering Glamorgan’s first-class status or the SWALEC stadium’s status as a test venue?

[Hugh Robertson]

The answer to that lay in the question. We have an England and Wales Cricket Board, and it would also be extraordinarily difficult to do that without endangering Glamorgan’s first-class status or the ability of the ground to compete for test matches. Traditionally, for many years, Welsh players have competed for England, although there are none at the moment. I imagine that Robert Croft was the last one to do so, and I hope that there will be many more in the future. Hugh Morris, the director of cricket at the ECB, was a Glamorgan player.

Business of the House

Jonathan Edwards Excerpts

Thursday 24th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

The Health and Social Care Bill will shortly return to the Floor of the House after its Committee stage. My hon. Friend is right: the Department of Health announced last month that 3,747 critical care beds were available in January this year—the highest number ever recorded. I am sure that the whole House will rejoice in those figures.

[Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)]

There is some disquiet about the UK Government’s proposed Calman-like process for Wales, which has implications for the way in which the Welsh Government are funded. Will the right hon. Gentleman ask the Secretary of State for Wales to make an oral statement on the Floor of the House so that we can debate this issue?

Points of Order

Jonathan Edwards Excerpts

Monday 7th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Following last week’s overwhelming yes vote for law-making powers for the National Assembly for Wales, both the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor made statements over the weekend indicating the UK Government’s intention to begin a Calman-like process for Wales. Is it in order that these statements were made at their conference in Cardiff rather than in this House or the Welsh Assembly?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving me advance notice of his intended point of order. I confess that I am not aware of any Government statement on this subject. Neither am I aware, notwithstanding what he just said in pursuit of his point of order, that there is a matter of order on which I can rule. However, I suspect that being a perspicacious Member he will find other opportunities to pursue the matter through the Order Paper and in the House.

Business of the House

Jonathan Edwards Excerpts

Thursday 27th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue. Our success in tackling the deficit means that the interest rate regime will be lower than it otherwise would be. If we listened to Opposition Members’ policies, there would be a real risk of interest rates increasing, and home ownership, investment—and, therefore, jobs—becoming more difficult. I would welcome such a debate.

[Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)]

The Leader of the House will be aware of some disquiet among Welsh farming unions and the Welsh Government about the UK Government’s position on CAP reform. Will he ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to make a statement on progress on developing a negotiating position that takes account of the devolved Governments’ views?

[Sir George Young]

I will give my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs advance notice that, next Thursday, she is likely to get a question from the hon. Gentleman on those issues. I will see that she is well briefed.