Business of the House

Stuart Andrew Excerpts

Thursday 31st October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I will not venture too far into this subject, but many charities are, of course, retailers in a substantial way. Just the other day I was talking to representatives of the British Heart Foundation. It has 700 shops all over the country, which provide an important basis for much of its work. However, I will ask my colleagues at the Department for Communities and Local Government to reflect on what the hon. Gentleman has said, and to respond to it.

[Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) (Con)]

This week. the “Lonely Planet” guide ranked Yorkshire as the third best region in the world. Given the countryside of the Dales, the brand-new retail development in Leeds—with more to come—the Grand Départ and, apparently, the fact that it contains more Michelin-starred restaurants than anywhere else outside London, may we have a debate to prove that Yorkshire is not just the third but, indeed, God’s own county?

[Mr Lansley]

I think that the House will be staggered by the effrontery of suggesting that Yorkshire is the third best county. We all know that it must be the second best, after Cambridgeshire.