Former Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire
I thank the Father of the House for the way in which he conducted this election. Congratulations from the Liberal Democrat Benches on your new role, Mr Speaker-Elect. You have been clear that you want to be a strong champion for Back Benchers in this place, and have always conducted yourself with good humour and taken great care of Members in this place. The focus that you placed on the...
I thank the Prime Minister for the tone in which he opened the debate, the former Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), for setting up the inquiry in the first place, and Sir Martin Moore-Bick and his inquiry team for the detailed work they have done. I also thank the hon. Member for Kensington (Emma Dent Coad). It is entirely understandable that the community is...
Mr Speaker, from the Liberal Democrats Benches may we wish you well and congratulate you on a decade particularly as a modernising Speaker? From topicality of debates to promoting diversity within the staff of the House to reforms to support parents who are MPs, you have helped to drag this institution out of the past so it can face the future. At this general election, voters deserve better...
The question that we are grappling with in this House and, indeed, in the wider country is not just a narrow matter of our relationship with the European Union, although this debate on Brexit has exposed significant differences in how people feel about that. People’s identities of remain or leave run deep, because this is not only about whether we remain in the EU or leave; it is about who...
The hon. Gentleman and I have both been campaigning for a people’s vote. I believe that the ideal way to resolve this issue is to put this specific Brexit deal to the public. He is right; I think that the public would be likely to reject this bad Brexit deal, because it is a bad deal. If we look at the polls, we have to go back some way to find the leave vote being ahead of remain, and that...
The hon. Lady and I agree on much. I do want 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds to be able to vote. The time for that change is coming, and I will always vote to support 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds having the right to vote. I have debated this issue over many years with many MPs, and Members who are sceptical should look at the success of votes at 16 in Scotland. At 4 o’clock in the afternoon...
While the Liberal Democrats were in coalition, there was not a referendum on our membership of the European Union. In fact, we passed a law to say that that should only happen when there was a significant treaty change. The loss of Liberal Democrats from the Government allowed that to be pushed through the House of Commons.
We then voted to pass an Act of Parliament to say that that should happen at the point of significant treaty change, which we have not seen. I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. She has a beautiful constituency, which I am already very familiar with, and I expect to be there more in the coming weeks. As I was saying, the Prime Minister has not supported the United Kingdom. He has...
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people involved in the criminal exploitation of vulnerable young people in county lines operations have been charged with modern slavery offences.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the spread of Ebola to the city of Goma and the potential risk of the outbreak spreading to Rwanda.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to overcome the (a) local mistrust of health officials and (b) militia violence which have impeded efforts to prevent the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo from spreading further.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Italian counterpart on (a) the seizure of international NGO vessels and (b) its potential violations of international maritime law.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterparts on (a) the accuracy of its reporting of civilian casualties due to US drone strikes and (b) the lasting effect of US drone strikes on civilian populations in Somalia.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Emirati counterpart on the prison conditions of the Emirati prisoner of conscience Ahmed Mansoor.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many EU citizens (a) have been and (b) will be prevented from obtaining settled status due to the technical inability of the settlement scheme app to convert pre-settled status into settled status.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the viability of return to Sudan for people from Darfur or Nuba ethnicities.
