Here are some recently tabled Early Day Motions. Click on the link to see who else has signed them. Shadow Minister for Children Tim Loughton has tabled EDM 2542, on a fantastically unimportant issue: "JOHN SERGEANT AND STRICTLY COME DANCING 20.11.2008 Loughton, Tim That this House is devastated by the circumstances surrounding John Sergeant’s departure […]
Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve asked an important written question recently: "Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons suspected of terrorism offences the Government has been unable to deport owing to (a) legal challenges and (b) an assessment that the individual concerned will be tortured if deported […]
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean is a former Secretary of State for Scotland. Speaking in the House of Lords yesterday, he asked the Government about the taxation of small businesses: "Lord Forsyth of Drumlean asked Her Majesty’s Government: Whether their proposals to help small businesses maintain employment will include retaining after 1 April 2009 the staff […]
David Heathcoat-Amory is an amateur astronomer, which may explain the following written question: "Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much his Department is spending on astronomy and space research in 2008-09. [237532] Mr. Lammy: The Science and Technology Facilities Council, which is responsible for astronomy and space […]
Yesterday the House of Commons held its annual fisheries debate. The Government was led by a junior minister – Huw Irranca-Davies, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Without casting aspersions about his ability, it seems odd that the debate was not led by Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State. Mr […]
There are still some hardy Conservative critics of conventional climate change wisdom in the House of Commons. On Wednesday Mr Lilley introduced a debate on the Stern Review in Westminster Hall. (Lord Stern’s main conclusion was that one per cent of global GDP per year is needed to combat climate change. He has since revised […]
The Parliament page on ConservativeHome usually focuses on activity from Conservatives, for obvious reasons. But a written question from Labour MP Sandra Osborne has prompted a noteworthy answer: "Sandra Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many women have given birth while serving a prison sentence in England in each of the […]
On 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry in Northern Ireland, a civil rights procession took place (in defiance of a Stormont ban on parades and marches). Demonstrators – protesting against internment without trial – approached a barbed wire Army barricade. A variety of missiles were hurled. Members of the Parachute Regiment opened […]
Julian Lewis, MP for New Forest East and a Shadow Defence minister, has posed an important question about the demonstration in Parliament Square: "Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the written answer of 21 July 2008, Official Report, column 748W, on noise pollution, whether […]
Sadiq Khan is Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Communities and Local Government. During oral questions yesterday, he made an unfair attack on James Paice, Shadow Minister for Agriculture. "Mr. James Paice (South-East Cambridgeshire) (Con): Does the Minister agree that the rules and laws of this country should apply to everybody equally? If […]
Kettering MP Philip Hollobone was elected in 2005. Curiously, he is also a Kettering Borough Councillor. Yesterday during oral questions on Communities and Local Government, he posed the following question: "Mr. Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con): If she will hold discussions with Treasury Ministers to ensure that revenue from the local authority housing revenue account is […]
Shadow Home Office minister David Ruffley has posed an interesting written question: "Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the (a) reliability and (b) usefulness of headcam technology in tackling crime; if she will make resources available to make this technology more widely available […]
Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Michael Gove spoke in the House of Commons yesterday, in light of the Baby P case. Mr Gove and his Opposition colleagues are quite right to raise these concerns. It is not about pointscoring, it is their statutory and moral duty. "Michael Gove (Surrey Heath) (Con): […]
It’s a light programme in the House of Commons today. This is the order of business: "The House will sit at 2.30pm Oral Questions – Children, Schools and Families; including Topical Questions Motion – Ways and Means resolution on the Education and Skills Bill Legislation – Education and Skills Bill – Lords amendments Adjournment – […]