Backbench debate on Thursday, 20 December 2012, in the House of Commons. The answering members were Tom Brake, Dan Poulter and Simon Burns.

Christmas Adjournment

Twenty-third backbench debate (part two). Motion for the Christmas recess and subsequent debate. Agreed to on question.

Secondary information

Type: Parliamentary proceeding
Reference: 555 cc1020-1098
Session: 2012-13
Department: Department for Transport; Leader of the House of Commons; Department of Health
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions: David Amess | 555 c1020 (Link to this contribution)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered matters to be raised before the forthcoming A...; Nigel Evans | 555 c1020 (Link to this contribution)
Beautifully moved. Merry Christmas, Mr Amess. There will be a time limit of eight minutes on Back...; Andrew Bingham | 555 cc1020-3 (Link to this contribution)
I want to raise the issue of ambulance stations in my High Peak constituency. First, for the sake...; Jim Dowd | 555 c1023 (Link to this contribution)
Traditionally, Members raise constituency concerns in the House’s pre-recess Adjournment debates,...; John McDonnell | 555 c1023 (Link to this contribution)
And privatising.; Jim Dowd | 555 cc1023-4 (Link to this contribution)
Yes, I think that is part of the TSA’s agenda. The way the Department has engineered this situati...; Baroness Coffey | 555 cc1024-6 (Link to this contribution)
It is a great pleasure to speak in this debate on a particularly important topic, in which the Mi...; John Healey | 555 cc1026-8 (Link to this contribution)
I wish to take the unusual step of telling the House and the Minister about the individual case o...; Nigel Evans | 555 c1028 (Link to this contribution)
Order.
12.29 pm; Jeremy Lefroy | 555 cc1028-1030 (Link to this contribution)
In September 2012 the Royal College of Physicians published a report, “Hospitals on the edge? The...; Jim Dowd | 555 c1030 (Link to this contribution)
I am following what the hon. Gentleman is saying most carefully, as this is part of the problem t...; Jeremy Lefroy | 555 cc1030-1 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I am not convinced that that is the case at all....; Grahame Morris | 555 cc1031-3 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for making this debate possible before the Christmas rec...; Keith Vaz | 555 cc1033-5 (Link to this contribution)
It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Grahame M. Morris). I share t...; Jeremy Corbyn | 555 c1034 (Link to this contribution)
My right hon. Friend is making an absolutely excellent speech. Does he think that we should take ...; Keith Vaz | 555 c1034 (Link to this contribution)
Yes, I do. However, I remember that one time I met my hon. Friend when he was off to have dinner ...; Jeremy Corbyn | 555 c1034 (Link to this contribution)
No, that is not true. I wish to place on the record that my right hon. Friend has been deeply mis...; Keith Vaz | 555 c1034 (Link to this contribution)
I will not tease my hon. Friend, but I think that the word “McDonald’s” did enter the conversatio...; Nigel Evans | 555 c1034 (Link to this contribution)
For the wind-ups, the guideline on speeches is 10 minutes, but the clock will not be in operation...; Dan Poulter | 555 cc1034-8 (Link to this contribution)
I have very much enjoyed sitting through this debate on health. I remember that when we had the e...; Peter Aldous | 555 c1038 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey)for raising the issue a...; Dan Poulter | 555 cc1039-1040 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is absolutely right and I pay tribute to him for taking the time to go out with th...; Jim Dowd | 555 c1040 (Link to this contribution)
Will the Minister give way?; Dan Poulter | 555 c1040 (Link to this contribution)
I will take an intervention very quickly, but I am pressing on Mr Deputy Speaker’s patience.; Jim Dowd | 555 c1040 (Link to this contribution)
Nobody disputes the Minister’s last point. That is why there is a reconfiguration process especia...; Nigel Evans | 555 c1040 (Link to this contribution)
Order. Please complete your contribution within 60 seconds, Minister, so that we can move on.
...; Dan Poulter | 555 c1040 (Link to this contribution)
I will do so, Mr Deputy Speaker.
I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State...; Lord Wilson of Sedgefield | 555 cc1041-3 (Link to this contribution)
I want to take this opportunity to raise an issue that is helping to fill my postbag at the momen...; Chris Williamson | 555 cc1043-4 (Link to this contribution)
I will start by telling the Minister that there is great concern in my Derby constituency about t...; Nigel Evans | 555 c1044 (Link to this contribution)
Order.
1.30 pm; Jeremy Corbyn | 555 cc1044-5 (Link to this contribution)
It is a pleasure to follow my Friend the Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson). I pay tribute...; Simon Burns | 555 c1045 (Link to this contribution)
If privatisation has been as bad as the hon. Gentleman describes, why, since privatisation, have ...; Jeremy Corbyn | 555 cc1045-6 (Link to this contribution)
I had a discussion in 1997 with the then Transport Secretary, Lord Prescott, in which I suggested...; Simon Burns | 555 cc1046-8 (Link to this contribution)
I welcome this short debate on transport. Given the shortness of time I have and the wide ranging...; Jeremy Corbyn | 555 c1048 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the Minister and I look forward to having such a meeting so that we can, I hope, make pro...; Simon Burns | 555 cc1048-9 (Link to this contribution)
In that spirit, I hope that any meetings we have would be positive so that we could make progress...; Chris Williamson | 555 c1049 (Link to this contribution)
Will the Minister confirm whether credit ratings will be a significant factor in determining the ...; Simon Burns | 555 cc1049-1050 (Link to this contribution)
On the hon. Gentleman’s second point about the final part of that process, we expect a conclusion...; Nigel Evans | 555 c1051 (Link to this contribution)
As we move on, maybe this is the time for me to talk the talk and wish all hon. Members and staff...; David Amess | 555 cc1051-3 (Link to this contribution)
Before the House adjourns for the Christmas recess, there are a number of points I wish to raise....; Valerie Vaz | 555 cc1053-5 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Member for Southend West (Mr Amess) is always a difficult act to follow, but it is alway...; Craig Whittaker | 555 cc1055-6 (Link to this contribution)
I do not intend to take up anywhere near my allocated time, Mr Deputy Speaker; instead, I hope to...; Graham Allen | 555 cc1056-7 (Link to this contribution)
It is good to see you in the Chair, Mr Deputy Speaker, in your now traditional role of the Speake...; Bob Stewart | 555 c1057 (Link to this contribution)
My understanding is that those in Bomber Command are getting a clasp to an existing medal, probab...; Graham Allen | 555 cc1057-8 (Link to this contribution)
It is important for those who served in Bomber Command and survived—it had the highest attrition ...; Nigel Evans | 555 c1058 (Link to this contribution)
Order. The hon. Gentleman’s time has run out.
2.24 pm; Simon Hughes | 555 cc1058-1060 (Link to this contribution)
Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker, for presiding over our last debate before Christmas. I ha...; Baroness Brown of Silvertown | 555 c1060 (Link to this contribution)
This is quite unusual, but I find myself in agreement with the right hon. Gentleman for the secon...; Simon Hughes | 555 cc1060-1 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful, and I hope there will be a lot of common ground on these issues.
When people...; Thomas Docherty | 555 cc1061-3 (Link to this contribution)
It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hughes),...; Bob Stewart | 555 cc1063-4 (Link to this contribution)
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Thomas Docherty). He ta...; Thomas Docherty | 555 c1064 (Link to this contribution)
I have the privilege of serving on the Defence Committee with the hon. Gentleman. On the issue he...; Bob Stewart | 555 cc1064-5 (Link to this contribution)
Yes, I agree. In the last month, some 700 members of the Afghan national security forces have bee...; Helen Goodman | 555 c1065 (Link to this contribution)
May I say what a pleasure it is to follow the hon. Member for Beckenham (Bob Stewart) and say to ...; Guy Opperman | 555 c1065 (Link to this contribution)
I am listening carefully to the hon. Lady’s speech, and I accept that difficult struggles lie ahe...; Helen Goodman | 555 cc1066-7 (Link to this contribution)
I am afraid I do not accept the hon. Gentleman’s analysis. I was about to point out that last yea...; Mel Stride | 555 cc1067-9 (Link to this contribution)
I want to thank and salute many hundreds—possibly even thousands—of people in my constituency who...; Edward Leigh | 555 c1068 (Link to this contribution)
And me? Will my hon. Friend thank me?; Mel Stride | 555 c1068 (Link to this contribution)
I will thank my hon. Friend in due course.
I thank my wife Michelle and my three daughters....; Lindsay Hoyle | 555 c1068 (Link to this contribution)
I can reassure the hon. Gentleman that will be the case and that Mrs Hoyle will be very impressed...; David Lammy | 555 c1068 (Link to this contribution)
I think that the hon. Member for Central Devon (Mel Stride) has reduced the number of Christmas c...; Helen Goodman | 555 c1068 (Link to this contribution)
Is my right hon. Friend really telling us that there will be one police station per 100,000 peopl...; David Lammy | 555 cc1068-1070 (Link to this contribution)
In fact, it will be worse than that, because the London borough of Haringey, which has a populati...; Barry Gardiner | 555 c1070 (Link to this contribution)
My right hon. Friend will know that the fire brigade in London has requested that the Mayor revie...; Lindsay Hoyle | 555 c1071 (Link to this contribution)
Order. The clock does not tick during interventions, so they have to be short. When a Member inte...; David Lammy | 555 c1071 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend raises an important point. People are deeply concerned about the ability of the fi...; Edward Leigh | 555 c1071 (Link to this contribution)
Why is it that, 65 years after 55,000 of them—young men of Bomber Command—gave up their lives for...; Barry Gardiner | 555 c1071 (Link to this contribution)
May I take this opportunity, Mr Deputy Speaker, to wish you and, indeed, all the officers and ser...; Bob Blackman | 555 c1071 (Link to this contribution)
indicated assent.; Barry Gardiner | 555 cc1071-3 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Gentleman knows the forum well from his time in Brent. It has done a fantastic job over ...; Bob Blackman | 555 cc1073-5 (Link to this contribution)
It is a pleasure to follow my near neighbour and constituency MP, the hon. Member for Brent North...; John McDonnell | 555 cc1075-8 (Link to this contribution)
I wish to draw attention to the mismanagement and—some fear—worse of contracts by Hillingdon coun...; Stephen Gilbert | 555 cc1078-9 (Link to this contribution)
It is always a pleasure to speak in these end-of-term Adjournment debates. Their value has just b...; Guy Opperman | 555 cc1079-1080 (Link to this contribution)
Northumberland has much that it could teach the rest of Britain. My constituency is home to a vas...; Bob Blackman | 555 c1080 (Link to this contribution)
The process of local plans is key for local people participating in democracy. Does my hon. Frien...; Guy Opperman | 555 cc1080-2 (Link to this contribution)
I entirely agree. It does not really matter which political party is in charge of the local autho...; Bob Russell | 555 cc1082-5 (Link to this contribution)
These are difficult times for local councils, and with further financial constraints confronting ...; Stephen Gilbert | 555 c1083 (Link to this contribution)
Does my hon. Friend agree that these outrageous claims must be properly investigated?; Bob Russell | 555 c1083 (Link to this contribution)
I am most grateful to my hon. Friend.; Lindsay Hoyle | 555 c1083 (Link to this contribution)
Order. Mr Gilbert, you knew when you rose to intervene that your colleague’s time had almost run ...; Bob Russell | 555 c1083 (Link to this contribution)
I agree with what my hon. Friend said.
As I was saying, it is difficult to estimate what th...; Charlie Elphicke | 555 cc1083-7 (Link to this contribution)
I rise to celebrate Christmas. In particular, I want to celebrate Christmas in Dover, where we wi...; Neil Parish | 555 cc1086-9 (Link to this contribution)
It is a great pleasure to speak after my hon. Friend the Member for Dover (Charlie Elphicke) and ...; Martin Vickers | 555 cc1089-1090 (Link to this contribution)
I am not sure I can follow that, but I will follow Members who have been somewhat critical of the...; Tom Brake | 555 cc1090-5 (Link to this contribution)
The range of subjects we have heard about this afternoon is unparalleled, from dogs that teach ch...; John McDonnell | 555 c1095 (Link to this contribution)
Would you like to see the report?; Tom Brake | 555 cc1095-6 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Gentleman asks from a sedentary position whether I would like to see the report, but I t...; Charlie Elphicke | 555 c1096 (Link to this contribution)
indicated assent.; Tom Brake | 555 c1096 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Gentleman nods in agreement, so he does not object to the French because they are French...; Neil Parish | 555 c1096 (Link to this contribution)
Schmallenberg.; Tom Brake | 555 c1097 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that clarification. It is not something that I encounter often in ...; Neil Parish | 555 c1097 (Link to this contribution)
I ignored it.; Tom Brake | 555 c1097 (Link to this contribution)
Indeed—the hon. Gentleman ignored it. I had an interesting conversation with my hon. Friend the M...; Lindsay Hoyle | 555 c1097 (Link to this contribution)
I wish to take this opportunity to wish Members all the best for Christmas and the new year. I am...
Link: View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk

Christmas Adjournment

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