Alan Johnson: It is a shame that that was said by a Government Member, but the hon. Gentleman makes a fundamental point about why Labour Members have sought reform—originally abolition, but then reform—of the other place. To me, I am afraid, it represents institutionalised snobbery. I do not agree with Walter Bagehot’s comment that the cure for admiring the House of Lords is to go and look at it, but...
Alan Johnson: The hon. Gentleman tried to intervene on the right hon. and learned Member for Kensington (Sir Malcolm Rifkind), and now he has got his intervention on the record. The first question is, “Do we need to reform the House of Lords?”, and the answer is, “Of course we do.” The second question is, “Are these the right reforms?” I think that they broadly are. I say that not because they...
Alan Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle of 28 November 2011 concerning a constituent, Alan Mackinder of Hessle.
Alan Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Minister for Housing and Local Government was part of the team from his Department that visited the Hull City Council area on 18 August and 9 December 2011.
Alan Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on (a) how many occasions and (b) what dates the Minister for Housing and Local Government has undertaken an official visit to Hull since his appointment.
Alan Johnson: In April last year the Government announced the successful bids in round 1 of the regional growth fund. Hull was very pleased to be included, because it means 500 jobs and rescuing people from some of the poorest housing conditions in the country. However, 13 months later, not a penny of that regional growth fund money has materialised. Will the Prime Minister tell me why and, if he cannot,...
Alan Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been paid under all compensation schemes for distant water trawlermen; and how much has been paid to trawlermen from Hull.
Alan Johnson: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for arranging this serial intervention event. This afternoon I spoke to Lord Haskins, who is the chair of our local enterprise partnership and the business leader in Hull. He believes that the damage resulting from this measure will, at a stroke, remove all the advantages of our two enterprise zones and local enterprise partnership. Should not the voice of...
Alan Johnson: In my experience as Home Secretary, the louder the cheers from behind, the deeper the mire the Home Secretary was in. [Laughter.] In my view, any ambiguity about the date should have meant that the announcement was made on Wednesday, rather than Tuesday. If the Home Secretary is right about her dates, I will be very pleased about that. If she is wrong, will she accept that she must take...
Alan Johnson: I join the hon. Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous) in supporting new clause 6, and I wish to make a few brief points. First, on the anomaly issue, in the early ’70s a Conservative Chancellor looked at towable caravans, which are VATable, and residential caravans, which are not, and decided that so-called static caravans should be classified as residential property and therefore not be...
Alan Johnson: My hon. Friend raises a crucial point. I say the following to those on the Treasury Bench: this was meant to be a Budget for manufacturing; it was meant to be a Budget for growth in the British economy; it was meant to be a Budget that ended some of the anomalies in the north-south divide. How can we go ahead with this measure, given that hon. Members in all parts of the House know the effect...
Alan Johnson: My hon. Friend is right because, on the Treasury’s assessment, more than 1,000 jobs are going to be lost. Some 90% of this manufacturing industry is based in east Yorkshire. I say to those on the Treasury Bench that this is not an industry that has asked for help from the Government—indeed, in 2008-09, it had to pull itself up by its bootstraps. Having done that, this is not a question of...
Alan Johnson: Is not the real issue in the case of Abu Qatada the fact that the Home Secretary has been engaged in a race against time as a result of her Government’s reckless decision to abandon control orders and replace them with measures that the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation has said will weaken national security?
Alan Johnson: I am pleased that the plight of the Hazara will—for the first time, I believe—be covered in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights document. I understand what the Minister is saying about the persecution of other religions. However, does he agree, that if no one raises the persecution of a specific group, we will never discuss any terrorist targets? Does he agree that it is very...
Alan Johnson: This debate is about the persecution of the Hazara community in Quetta city in the Pakistan province of Balochistan and its aim is to draw attention to their plight. The ultimate objective is to put pressure on the Pakistan authorities to do more to capture those who are responsible. I sought this debate with my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test (Dr Whitehead), who cannot be here...
Alan Johnson: The hon. Gentleman is right. I have huge respect for the country—I went to Pakistan when I was a Minister—and for the high commissioner, but I believe that that is the key point about the Hazara community: there is no sign of any of the perpetrators being brought to justice, and it is not simply the case that they are being held but the prosecuting authorities are not being successful....
Alan Johnson: I do accept that point; indeed, the high commissioner for Pakistan made the same point when he contacted me today about this debate. I shall say some things later about the difficulties that Pakistan is facing, but that must not detract from the fact that these killings are taking place on a daily basis. The authorities seem remarkably complacent about it and not a single perpetrator has been...
Alan Johnson: The last time we saw the Government circling the wagons like this, it was in defence of the poll tax. Those present at the time will remember the fanaticism of the Conservative Back Benchers supporting a policy that was ultimately doomed. It is impossible not to feel sorry for the Secretary of State for Health. Nobody has ever coveted the position of Health Secretary for so long and then...
Alan Johnson: I see that the Whips’ brief dragged up something I did in a previous life. [Interruption.] The risk register is, with respect, a second-order issue. I cannot understand why the Health Secretary does not publish it. He is in enough trouble already, and the Government are in enough trouble already without adding an issue of transparency that simply makes the situation worse.
Alan Johnson: I will give way again later. The most important reforms that are necessary now are to integrate health and social care, to improve care for people with long-term conditions and to move from a hospital-based service that was designed for a different age. All three reforms—