Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 7 July 2016.
Rory Stewart
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
12:00,
7 July 2016
My hon. Friend has been an extraordinary champion for his Constituency—indeed, he had a late Christmas day celebration a couple of days ago. I saw at first hand with him the devastation for businesses in Calder Valley, ranging from furniture shops to carpentry manufacturers. The problem on commercial insurance is, of course, that different businesses have different attitudes towards interruption payments and excesses. However, that is being addressed through the BIBA process and, most importantly, through the investment in flood defences.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent