All 29 Debates between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw

Mon 8th Jul 2019
Wed 20th Jun 2018
Wed 20th Jun 2018
Mon 27th Feb 2017
Wed 11th May 2016
Wed 16th Dec 2015
Wed 15th Jul 2015
Wed 20th Jul 2011

UK Ambassador to USA: Leaked Emails

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Monday 8th July 2019

(4 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.

Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.

This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Marvellous!

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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It is inconceivable that a leak intended to damage our serving ambassador in Washington came from a fellow civil servant, so will the Minister confirm that the telephone and email records of serving and former Ministers and special advisers in the Foreign Office will be part of the investigation? Given the close relationship between the journalist who received this leak and leading pro-Brexit politicians, what does he think was the motivation behind it?

Speaker’s Statement

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Wednesday 19th December 2018

(5 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am not asking the Minister of State what she thinks he said; I am responding to the hon. Lady’s point of order. People are entitled to offer their own views within the rules of order, and to the best of my knowledge, nothing disorderly was said. I am happy to look at the record and consult further, but the advice I have received is that nothing disorderly was said.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I suspect that most of us are in the Chamber to hear a very important application for an emergency debate on the single most important issue that has faced our country in peacetime, and the public looking in will find this spectacle completely ludicrous. Can we please move on to the important business of the House?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his comments. I hope he will understand if I say that it is not possible in these matters to please everyone. I am trying to do the right thing by listening to, taking account of and offering a response to points of order, but I am conscious, as the House will be, that we have important business to which to proceed, and I intend that we shall do so. I politely suggest that if people have already made points of order, they should not treat them as an ongoing debate. If somebody raises a point of order, and I respond to it, it is reasonable to proceed to the next person and then to a conclusion of those points of order.

Leaving the EU: Meaningful Vote

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Monday 22nd October 2018

(5 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I will call a very small number of Members now, but colleagues will also have an opportunity to question the Prime Minister, who is always very committed to the House.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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What does the Secretary of State think the consequences would be if a majority in this House opposed the deal, opposed no deal and perhaps in those circumstances even supported a people’s vote if the Government tried to thwart the will of this House being expressed and implemented?

Points of Order

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Wednesday 20th June 2018

(5 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I thank the hon. Gentleman for the apology he has given to the House and, if I may say so, for the good humour he has displayed in the course of making his statement. I think it is acknowledged and accepted by the House.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Have you been made aware of reports in the past few minutes that seriously sick Labour Members might be prevented from voting this afternoon because of Government Whips breaking with the usual convention of allowing them to be nodded through? This would constitute a serious breach of the conventions of this House. I would be grateful if you could make a ruling, Mr Speaker, so that the Government Whips could hear it.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order. The short answer is that I had heard nothing of that until he sidled up to the Chair and mentioned it. The practice has long taken place on the basis of co-operation between the usual channels. There is nothing unusual about the arrangement —it is very long-established and commonplace—but it does not bear upon or speak to the functions of the Chair. It is a matter that has to be agreed between the different sides of the House. The right hon. Gentleman is a very experienced Member of this House and he has registered, with some force and alacrity, his strength of feeling on the matter.

European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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Does not this compromise give enormous power to you, Mr Speaker? That is all very well, because you are a Speaker who has stood up for the rights of this House and of Back Benchers, and for the majority in this House to be able to have meaningful votes, but were you to fall under a bus in the next few months, what guarantee would there be that a future Speaker would stand up for the rights of this House in the same way that you have done?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I will do my best to observe the road safety code.

European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Tuesday 12th June 2018

(5 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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I think it would be very helpful to the House if the hon. Lady could spell out in a little more detail exactly what the consensus is—

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I am sorry, but time is up— [Interruption.] Order. We are all governed by the programme motion, which the House voted to agree. I have no vote in these matters; the House adopted the programme motion.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Monday 29th January 2018

(6 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Too long.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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I thank the Minister for her efforts on behalf of Exeter College, which, as she will know, was inexplicably not granted the contract by the Skills Funding Agency to provide apprenticeships through small firms. I would like her to continue those efforts, working with officials from her Department and the agency, because if this is not rectified, or a way through found for this, it will do serious damage both to the provision of apprenticeships in the Exeter area and to Exeter College, which is one of the top performing colleges in the country.

Points of Order

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Wednesday 6th December 2017

(6 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I do not wish to prolong this exchange. The right hon. Gentleman is unfailingly courteous to me, and I have no wish to be discourteous to him. Those matters which are familiar to him will be familiar to others. They may or may not be judged germane by the Committee in putting together its report, and therefore reaching its conclusions. I do not think that its conclusions will be influenced by points of order now on the Floor of the House. I completely understand why Members wish to give vent to their concern—that is perfectly proper—but I am afraid I have simply to repeat that if I am approached, if I receive a letter on this matter and related material, I will study it. I have tried to give a clear indication to the House that if I am so approached with responsibility to take a decision, I certainly intend to take my responsibility seriously and discharge it efficiently, which means, among other things, without undue delay. I hope that that is clear. If there are no more points of order—

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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No, no more, says the right hon. Member for Brexiter—[Laughter.] I am very sorry for my discourtesy to the right hon. Gentleman; he is the last person that I could call a Brexiteer. He is from Exeter, not Brexiter, and if there were such a place, he would not wish to live there. I realise that—[Interruption.] And the right hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry) chunters from a sedentary position that she would not want to live there either. I am well aware of that.

Exiting the EU: Sectoral Impact Assessments

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Wednesday 1st November 2017

(6 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Bradshaw
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I apologise for raising a point of order, but I did give my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield) prior warning. As you might have heard, Mr Speaker, there was a certain amount of confusion earlier about whether this motion is binding, and I would be grateful for your view on that.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order. I anticipated that this might arise at the end of the debate, and I say that motions of this kind have in the past been seen as effective or binding. I will leave it there for now, but if this matter needs to be returned to at the end of the debate, no doubt it will be.

Points of Order

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Tuesday 31st October 2017

(6 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Have you had any indication from the Government on whether they intend coming to this House to make a statement about the British connection in the Robert Mueller investigation into Russian subversion of the American presidential election, and in particular, the apparent role of an academic, a Professor Mifsud, who met in London more than once, we understand, George Papadopolous, who has already pleaded guilty to misleading the FBI in connection with Russian help in the presidential election?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order and for his notice a few moments ago of his intention to raise it. The short answer is that I have received no indication from any Minister of an intention to come to the House to make a statement on that matter. However, not being unconscious of the indefatigability of the right hon. Gentleman, I am confident that if the matter is not brought to the House, he will try to ensure, by one means or t’other, that it is.

Points of Order

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Monday 16th October 2017

(6 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am most intrigued by the point of order raised by the hon. Gentleman, for two reasons. First of all, I think he invests me with an immediate wisdom that I cannot claim to possess on a matter which, in the previous eight years and four months of my Speakership, has not been raised with me in this Chamber in that way. I am therefore bound to say that I must reflect upon the matter. Secondly, I am even more intrigued by the sense on the part of the hon. Gentleman that it is possible to distinguish a car that belongs to a Member from any other car. My car is a very ordinary car and I do not think that there is anything to suggest that it belongs to a Member rather than to some other person, but I will look into this matter. I hope that that provides satisfaction to the hon. Gentleman and of course, very importantly, to Mrs Bone.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Earlier this afternoon, my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis) asked the Home Secretary an important question about why the Intelligence and Security Committee had not been reconstituted since the election, and indeed had not met since April. I do not think that she can have heard or understood the question correctly, because she did not give my hon. Friend an answer. This is incredibly serious—as I am sure you appreciate, Mr Speaker, as the champion of this place—because that Committee scrutinises the important work of the Government and the intelligence services. We have had a number of dreadful terrorist attacks and all sorts of allegations about Russian interference in our democratic process, and the Committee needs to get on with its job. Will you please ensure that my hon. Friend gets a proper response from the Home Secretary or the relevant Secretary of State? It is unacceptable for the ISC not to be doing its work for such a long time?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order. I certainly agree that the hon. Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis) ought to have an answer to the question that he did ask, rather than perhaps to one which he did not. If there was a failure to answer, I am sure that it was inadvertent rather than calculated. More widely, I point out to the House that the method of composition of the Intelligence and Security Committee is different from that of other Committees. It is a Committee of Parliament, but it is not a Select Committee, so it was not constituted in the same way or at the same time as the other Committees. However, its work is just as important and as pressing as the work of any of the Select Committees of Parliament, so I agree that it is important that it should be constituted and up and running as quickly as possible. This is a point that I am happy to mention to the Leader of the House myself, but I rather hope that Members who feel strongly about it might be inclined to raise the matter with the Leader of the House, perhaps at the upcoming business questions, at which time I eagerly anticipate that the right hon. Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) will be in his seat and leaping up and down with enthusiasm from it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Tuesday 4th July 2017

(6 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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Dermatology is one of the specialisms that is particularly dependent on doctors from other EU countries. Is it not becoming clearer by the day, whether on the staffing crisis in the NHS or the threat to our pharmaceutical industry highlighted by the Health Secretary in his letter today, that the extreme hard Brexit being pursued by the Prime Minister is disastrous for our NHS? What are the Minister and the Secretary of State doing to pull the Prime Minister back from that damaging course?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. In relation to dermatologists is, I think, what the right hon. Gentleman had in mind.

NHS Shared Business Services

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Monday 27th February 2017

(7 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.

Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.

This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Bradshaw
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How much have you saved?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. The right hon. Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) is shouting noisily from a sedentary position. I cannot imagine that that is an offence that I would have committed when I sat on the Opposition Benches. I just do not think it would have happened. I do not know what has happened to standards.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Bradshaw
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The Secretary of State is not answering the question.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Objection to the manner and content of a ministerial response is not a novel phenomenon in the House of Commons.

White Paper on the BBC Charter

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Wednesday 11th May 2016

(7 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.

Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.

This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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The pre-briefing, from wherever it came in the Government, to the BBC-hostile press has not helped the Secretary of State’s cause. If the White Paper published tomorrow follows the recommendations of the excellent Select Committee report published last year—he chaired the Committee at the time and signed up to the report—I will support it. However, if there is any suggestion whatever of anything that intrudes on the BBC’s independence, he will have the fight of his life on his hands.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The right hon. Gentleman is asking the Secretary of State whether he agrees with himself.

Points of Order

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Wednesday 16th December 2015

(8 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. In that context, have you received any indication from the Government that a Minister intends to make a statement tomorrow about the outcome of their consultation on cutting the solar feed-in tariff, which I understand they will announce tomorrow. This is a matter of huge public and industrial concern, with 37,000 jobs—87% of the jobs in the solar industry—at risk if the Government do not change their proposals. It would be completely unacceptable for this announcement to be sneaked out on the last sitting Thursday before Christmas when, with a one-line Whip, many Members will not be in Parliament. I hope that you will take up that matter with the Government on our behalf.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am not aware of any intention on the part of a Minister to make a statement on that subject tomorrow, although I must say to the right hon. Gentleman, who is extremely experienced in the House, that the fact that I am not aware of any such intention at this point is itself unexceptional. There is no particular reason why I would have been notified. I have not been notified, but that does not mean that the Government are not planning to make a statement. As the right hon. Gentleman will know, that is little comfort to him. There might be an oral statement or there might not be. It is perfectly possible that there might be a written statement, which I suspect would satisfy him even less.

I cannot do anything about the point we have reached in the timetable. Tomorrow is the last day and some Members may not be present. That is unfortunate, but I can do nothing about it. However, just as I said to the hon. Member for Leeds North West that there is the opportunity of an urgent question for him and for other Members on matters of concern to them, it is perfectly open to the right hon. Gentleman to submit an urgent question. I simply inform colleagues that on a Thursday such applications must be in by 8.15 am. I feel sure that the hon. Gentleman and the right hon. Gentleman are both eager beavers and early birds.

If there are no further points of order—the appetite has been satisfied, at least for today—we come now to the ten-minute rule motion, for which the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) has been so patiently waiting.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Thursday 29th October 2015

(8 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The Minister was busily chuntering away to her colleague, with scandalous disregard for the right hon. Gentleman.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Bradshaw
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The Minister should actually listen to questions, rather than talking to her colleague. My question was this: what will be the impact of the cost overruns and delays affecting the electrification of the Great Western main line—from which we in the south-west are not benefiting beyond Bristol—on the investment that the Minister has just trumpeted?

Points of Order

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Wednesday 15th July 2015

(8 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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In the course of his point of order, the hon. Gentleman referred to a litany of distinguished personalities. I have not discussed the matter with the Home Secretary. I was at an event with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner the other day, and we did have a brief exchange, but I did not know then of the upcoming demonstration, still less of the intellectual ferocity of the hon. Gentleman’s prospective point of order, so I did not discuss the matter with him either. The Mayor of London is not far away; I suggest that the hon. Gentleman might have a chat with his hon. Friend. The important point, of course, is that notwithstanding the right to demonstrate, the right of Members to go about their business unimpeded must be upheld. If the hon. Gentleman has concerns on that front, this is an issue that can very properly be taken forward with the appropriate authorities, of which there are more than one.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker, of which I have given the relevant Minister notice. Is it in order for a Minister to threaten to exclude an hon. Member from information and correspondence about his local NHS, to bar me from access to senior NHS officials, and even to threaten negative consequences for me and my constituents—and all because I have been critical of the Government’s continuing failure to grip the unprecedented financial crisis facing Devon NHS? That was the essence of an encounter with the Under-Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer), just outside this Chamber last night. Will you please remind the Minister that he is accountable to this House, that it is the job of a Member of Parliament to speak up on behalf of his or her constituents, and that such behaviour from a Minister of the Crown is completely intolerable?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order and for his courtesy in giving me notice of it. I do not want to be drawn, and fear that I cannot be drawn, into conversations between hon. Members to which I was not myself privy, including those between hon. Members and Ministers. What I will say is this: I am sure that the hon. Member for Ipswich is well aware of his responsibilities and that the right hon. Member for Exeter will continue to be a doughty champion for his constituents. He has a right to be, he has a responsibility to be, and I am sure he will be.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Thursday 12th March 2015

(9 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The right hon. Gentleman may be looking forward to his visit to Lichfield cathedral, but I do not suppose he is looking forward to it as much as the people of Lichfield.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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7. What the Church Commissioners’ policy is on paying the living wage.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Thursday 17th October 2013

(10 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I think I heard the right hon. Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) make an allegation of dishonesty. I must ask him to withdraw that word. I think he used a three-letter word which implied direct dishonesty.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Bradshaw
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I apologise, Mr Speaker, but perhaps the Minister could clarify how Britain voted.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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We cannot continue the debate in that way. Topical questions will continue the exchange, but I must ask the right hon. Gentleman to withdraw that word.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Bradshaw
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I happily withdraw it.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am most grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. All these matters will be aired further, I am sure.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Thursday 6th December 2012

(11 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. For the avoidance of doubt, although I am not privy to the details of the exchange, it is absolutely correct to say that only one Minister can answer the question. Whether or not people like the answer is another matter.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Bradshaw
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But he is responsible.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I note the point about responsibility. There are quite a lot of hand gestures going on, but we must now—[Interruption.] Order. The Minister of State must calm himself. We must move on.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Bradshaw
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I will take a point of order at the end of questions.

--- Later in debate ---
John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I do not want to intrude on any discussion about the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for South West Devon (Mr Streeter), but I think we can all agree that the Second Church Estates Commissioner, the hon. Member for Banbury (Sir Tony Baldry) is the representative of a rarefied breed.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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2. What plans the Church of England has to make the House of Laity more representative of members of the Church.

Regional Pay (NHS)

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Wednesday 7th November 2012

(11 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. In the interests of trying to accommodate as many colleagues as possible, and many wish to speak in the debate, I have imposed an eight-minute limit on each Back-Bench contribution with immediate effect. I call Mr Ben Bradshaw.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Bradshaw
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indicated dissent.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The right hon. Gentleman had previously expressed an interest.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Bradshaw
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That is very kind of you, Mr Speaker, but I have had my Adjournment debate this morning and taken up enough time, so I want to let colleagues speak.

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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We are extremely grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his selfless sacrifice. I call Kerry McCarthy.

Food Labelling (Halal and Kosher Meat)

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Tuesday 24th April 2012

(11 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I will take a very brief further point from the right hon. Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw), a former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and then respond to the point of order.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Given that on 20 July last year, the Culture Secretary himself said that any conversations that the Prime Minister had had with James Murdoch were irrelevant, specifically because he, the Culture Secretary, was taking the decision in a quasi-judicial way, is it not paramount that the Prime Minister also come to the House to correct the record at the earliest opportunity?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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If a matter of privilege is being raised, hon. or right hon. Members should write to me about it. I feel, on the strength of what I have heard, that I am quite able to respond. I say to the shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport and to the right hon. Member for Exeter that I have received no indication from the Secretary of State that he intends to come to the House. The point that the right hon. and learned Lady and the right hon. Gentleman have made is clear, on the record and will have been widely heard.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Tuesday 7th February 2012

(12 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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When the Deputy Prime Minister talks to the bishops and the archbishops about their futures, will he gently remind them that the overwhelming majority in Parliament, in the country and in the Church of England want women to be able to become bishops, and that it might not be in the interests of the House of bishops to try to amend or water down the current measure before Synod this week?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am sure that that question refers to membership of the upper House by women bishops. I am sure that that is what the right hon. Member meant.

Points of Order

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Wednesday 20th July 2011

(12 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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What I would say to the hon. Gentleman—this is the first I have heard of this—is that witnesses before Select Committees should seek to be as helpful as possible to Committees, and they have a general obligation to furnish Committees with answers to the best of their ability. I hope that answer is helpful to him.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Prime Minister said earlier that The New York Times revelations contained no new information, but the police considered the information new enough to reopen their inquiries. Would he care to correct the record?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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That, too, is a continuation of the debate, for which I remind the House there will be full opportunity in the debate that is about to follow.

Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation Bid for BSkyB

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Wednesday 13th July 2011

(12 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Bradshaw
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To dispel any suspicion—[Hon. Members: “Give way!”] No, I will not give way. [Interruption.]

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. If the right hon. Gentleman wants to give way, it is up to him.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Bradshaw
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I give way to the Secretary of State.

NHS Future Forum

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Tuesday 14th June 2011

(12 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I want to say two things. First, questions and answers must focus on the policy of the Government. That is the parliamentary position, and Members know it. Secondly—[Interruption.] Order. Secondly, I want to accommodate the level of interest in this statement, but Members must help me to help them, by being brief.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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In fact, the last Labour Government left record low waiting times and record levels of public satisfaction with the NHS. I welcome the fact that Professor Steve Field has said what many of us in the Opposition have been saying for at least a year. How much has this year’s shambles cost the NHS, and how much has it damaged patient care?

Points of Order

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Monday 6th December 2010

(13 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Well, I think that someone once said of the hon. Gentleman that his mind climbs mountains without any molehills. He is always thinking ahead of himself and I am not surprised, as he has a great elasticity of mind, but he is seeking to draw me into matters beyond where we have reached and he is absolutely right in his initial supposition that we do not discuss security matters on the Floor of the House. He has registered his concern that the Home Secretary should be ready to make a statement if the eventuality he fears could happen, but should not, actually happens. I have a strong feeling that her office reads Hansard. I think that will probably do for today.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Will you investigate whether there is some extraordinary pact or audacious dare between Ministers and broadcasters to insert a particularly unsavoury word into their performances—before this virus is allowed to spread any further?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. That is not a point of order, but he has made the point with his characteristic subtlety.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Monday 26th July 2010

(13 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. The Minister’s answer is always of interest to hear, but it is not for him to be posing questions to the shadow Secretary of State.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Bradshaw
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I note that there is not even a Lib Dem Front-Bench spokesman in the Chamber at the moment, although I am partially reassured by what the Minister has to say, because of course his Government have been described by senior Conservatives as the “Brokeback Mountain” coalition. That happens to be one of my favourite films, but as I am sure he is aware, it does not end well. One of the cowboys is killed in a homophobic attack by backwoodsmen, and the other lives out a sad, lonely life on a trailer park. Which is which in this coalition?

Points of Order

Debate between John Bercow and Ben Bradshaw
Thursday 8th July 2010

(13 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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The hon. Gentleman is ingenious, but he knows very well that he is seeking to inveigle me into making what is essentially a political pronouncement, and I must not do that. He has made his point very clearly. How such matters are addressed is a matter for the House. In an earlier incarnation, I had views and expressed them on this matter; in my present role, I do not have views, and therefore will not express them. However, he has expressed his views very clearly, and I have a feeling that he might want to apprise his constituents of the fact of what he said.

Ben Bradshaw Portrait Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Numerous media reports today and yesterday have suggested that the Government intend to change the date for digital radio switchover, and that they will announce that in a speech being made this afternoon by the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey). Have Ministers given any indication that they intend to pay Members of this House the courtesy of informing them of this significant change in policy, which will affect millions of people and businesses in Britain, or is this the latest example of the new Government treating Parliament with complete contempt?

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Let me say to the right hon. Gentleman that I have certainly received no indication from a member of the Government that he or she intends to make a statement on this matter. The point of order that he raises will have been heard very clearly by those on the Treasury Bench. It is a matter into which I am very happy to inquire. The right hon. Gentleman, who is always keenly abreast of events, will know that I have made my views very clear about the requirement for policy statements by Ministers to be made first to this House and not—I repeat not, for the benefit of those listening on the Treasury Bench; if I could attract the attention of the Minister for Immigration, I should be grateful—outside this House.