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Summer Recess Adjournment

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Harry Cohen). I hope he will forgive me for not following his line, as I intend to begin by speaking about a group of people whom I regard as more deserving of our sympathy and support—the victims of the Equitable Life debacle. Today's statement by the Chief Secretary was extremely disappointing. It continues a saga that has gone on for almost 10 years, whereby the Government have delayed and ducked and weaved in order to try and avoid their responsibilities in relation to the victims of Equitable Life. Today, in response to the challenge from my right hon. Friend the Member for North-West Hampshire (Sir George Young), who asked why the Government did not table a substantive motion on the subject in order to see whether that gets the support of Parliament, the answer from the Chief Secretary was that that was a matter for the business managers. Will the Deputy Leader of the House, as a business manager on duty tonight, tell the House tonight that as soon as Parliament returns in the autumn, the Government will table a substantive motion on Equitable Life? If she cannot give such an undertaking, will she explain why? The issue should be one for Parliament, rather than for the Government. After all, we talk about the parliamentary ombudsman. The cynical way in which the Government are responding to the crisis, which seriously affects groups of elderly people in all our constituencies, is contributing to bringing the House into disrepute and making it appear as though we are some way removed from the interests of our constituents. I hope the Minister will address that challenge when she responds. Another matter which I hope the hon. Lady will address is what is happening to the regional spatial strategy for the south-west. My constituents and others elsewhere in the south-west have been waiting for years for a final determination of the regional spatial strategy. They were told by the Government that that information would be made available at the end of June. I tabled a question to obtain that information which was answered on 16 June. The then Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Portsmouth, North (Sarah McCarthy-Fry), stated:""We intended to issue the final Regional Spatial Strategy for the South West at the end of June. However, on 20 May, the High Court issued a judgment that the previously issued Regional Spatial Strategy for the East of England had failed to meet certain requirements"." The Minister went on to say that it was impossible for the Government to""reach a clear view until the written judgment is issued…It is not possible to set a new timetable, until the implications of the judgment have been clarified."—[Official Report, 16 June 2009; Vol. 496, c. 208W.]" The latest information was given to my hon. Friend the Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose) in a parliamentary answer on 9 July, in which the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Dudley, North (Mr. Austin) said:""On 20 May, the High Court gave an oral judgment about the published Regional Strategy for the East of England…The Department and the Government Office for the south-west are currently considering the potential implications for the Regional Spatial Strategy for the south-west, and an announcement is expected shortly."—[Official Report, 9 July 2009; Vol. 495, c. 960W.]" Given its meaning in common parlance, I would expect "shortly" to refer to a date before 21 July. I should like to ask the Deputy Leader of the House two questions. First, when will we get the Government's response to the regional spatial strategy for the south-west? Secondly, will she guarantee that that response will not be issued during the parliamentary recess, making it impossible to hold the Government to account? I am sure that she can make a statement to confirm that, because the Government have not been able to do anything about this during the parliamentary Session until this stage in July, so they should not make an announcement when the House is not sitting. It is relevant that the South-West Regional Grand Committee is meeting in Exeter in 3 September, and it would be a pity if information on that regional spatial strategy was bounced on the Committee just before that date. I hope that the Deputy Leader of the House can give me a specific response. Finally, I want to flag up the important inquiry that the Procedure Committee has launched into the way in which we appoint the Speaker and the Deputy Speakers. I hope that the news that we are undertaking such an inquiry will ensure that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and your fellow Deputies have a more enjoyable vacation than might otherwise be possible, as I think that the air has been cleared, and it is obvious that your future is assured for much longer than might have been thought likely after the Speaker's statement on 2 July. I hope that the Speaker himself will give evidence to the Procedure Committee and can comment on the Procedure Committee report from the 2001-02 Session. The Committee determined that""it is entirely possible that the House might in future choose a Speaker from one party at a time when two of the three sitting Deputy Speakers were also members of that party. In such circumstances it would be unfair to expect a sitting Deputy Speaker to resign merely to re-balance the team."" I think that when Mr. Speaker made his statement on 2 July, he overlooked that point. He overlooked, too, the statement in the Procedure Committee report that the present system is—