John Hemming: Does the shadow Minister agree that because substantially what the Bill does is formalise what is currently mainly paid through discretionary housing payments, there will not be any substantial additional cost as a result of it?
John Hemming: Increasing numbers of British families are leaving the UK, like the Ashya King family, because they believe they will get a fairer trial in family courts abroad than in the UK. Does the Prime Minister agree that Parliament should look at the reasons for that?
John Hemming: I start with an apology to the House because I had to attend two Committees earlier so could not attend most of this debate. I refer Members to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. My company, John Hemming & Company Systems, provides software to financial services organisations, including those running pension schemes. Essentially, we are discussing how we can...
John Hemming: The Jay report confirmed that some girls who had been taken into care for their own protection actually received worse protection in care. The independent reviewing officer, whose job is to protect children in care, is an employee of the same local authority and therefore not independent. Will the Government consider backing my private Member’s Bill, which seeks to establish a remedy for...
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what visits by UK police officers in an official capacity to St Helena have taken place since May 2010; what the purpose and cost was of each such visit; and whether the full costs of each visit were met by her Department.
John Hemming: I support equal marriage, but a number of my constituents, both Muslim and non-Muslim, do not. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is very important to make a distinction between people with socially conservative views, and those who have extremist or divisive views? We must not be seen to be attacking people with socially conservative views.
John Hemming: Obviously, I support the Government’s objectives and making things easier for volunteers. Have the Government made any study of what effect the Bill would have on the costs on insurance to protect people against strange litigation?
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the opening of the airport on St Helena does not lead to the development of child sex tourism in that territory.
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information his Department has received about allegations of child abuse and police corruption on St Helena since May 2010; when that information was received; and what steps his Department took in response to that information.
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information the Governor of St Helena has received about allegations of child abuse and police corruption in that territory since May 2010; when that information was received; and what steps the Governor took in response to that information.
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has taken to tackle offences of child abuse on St Helena.
John Hemming: Some of the more serious historic allegations relate to children who were in care at the time of the event. In Jersey, there are allegations that children did not survive to their adulthood to make complaints. In England, the Government still do not record what happens when children disappear from care, using the record “Leaving care for other reasons”. Will the Secretary of State talk to...
John Hemming: Does the Secretary of State agree that the Opposition would do a better job if, rather than asking picky bureaucratic questions, they focused on whether universal credit will improve pay for low-paid people and ensure that work pays?
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which overseas counterparts have complained to the Government about matters relating to adoption, care proceedings or other matters relating to child protection in the UK; and what the substance of those complaints was.
John Hemming: I apologise to the House for having been in a Statutory Instrument Committee—in fact, on DWP issues—listening to the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) padding out his speech while saying very little. That is essentially where we are: we are not quite sure what the Labour party’s alternative is to what we are doing. However, Labour has a motion. In it, Labour complains that...
John Hemming: I am sorry, but I will not take an intervention from the hon. Gentleman because it will knock somebody else out. The Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Dame Anne Begg), was quite right to say that welfare reform is a very complex area. However, there is no question about it: we have to make it so that people are better off in work than out of work....
John Hemming: I agree with the Secretary of State that our first thought has to be for the victims, and that in future we must listen to the powerless and not block inquiries. If we go back to 2011—before Savile died—an American journalist, Leah McGrath Goodman, was banned from coming to the UK to investigate child abuse, including by Jimmy Savile. Even more recently, she was arrested at the airport on...
John Hemming: Does the Minister agree that one concern of citizens is the use of fines to raise funds? I checked Magna Carta 1297, which for these deregulatory purposes can be found in the volume of statutes from 1235 to 1770, and it is clause 14 that is, in part, being reinstated by this Bill.
John Hemming: One always wonders whether the Opposition have actually learned anything while in opposition, and listening to the shadow Secretary of State gave some indication of whether they have or not. I have had some useful conversations recently with Lord Turnbull, who, as Cabinet Secretary, was the senior civil servant and, I would argue, has some understanding of how national fiscal policy operates....