Robbie Moore
Main Page: Robbie Moore (Conservative - Keighley and Ilkley)Department Debates - View all Robbie Moore's debates with the Leader of the House
(1 day, 8 hours ago)
Commons ChamberI certainly join my hon. Friend in condemning the views that she described. There is absolutely no place for hatred of any kind in our society. Real progress has been made in football in general and at many football grounds, and it is a pity that she has to continue to raise these matters. I join her in praising Luton Town football club for doing its part in fighting racism, along with all the other football clubs that take the matter extremely seriously. She may wish to raise her concerns directly with Ministers at the next Department for Science, Innovation and Technology questions, which are on 4 February.
In Ilkley, Labour-run Bradford council is shockingly set to remove the town’s free one hour of on-street parking, despite over 4,000 residents objecting to the proposals. That follows a local referendum in the town, in which 90% of residents rejected a blanket 20 mile per hour zone and speed humps, only for the results of that poll to be ignored by the Labour mayor, who used his casting vote to push the vote through and, outrageously, said to residents that they should save their votes for “Strictly”, then went on to bill taxpayers £190,000 for the privilege. Ministers often say that decisions are for local leaders, but what happens when local leaders are outright ignoring the views of the public? Will the Leader of the House allow time for a debate on the role of central Government in areas where local democracy is clearly failing?
The hon. Gentleman is right to raise these concerns. There is clearly real concern in his constituency, but he will not be surprised if I say that parking is a matter for local authorities. It is a matter for local leaders and it is not for the Government to tell them how to manage things at that level. If local people are unhappy with their local representatives, they have the power to do something about that.