Andrew MacKay: Will the Secretary of State let the House know his plans to airlift kit and equipment from Iraq to our troops in Afghanistan, particularly as with our troops leaving Iraq it would be extremely helpful to replace Snatch Land Rovers in the country so that we do not have any further problems there?
Andrew MacKay: As this is the season of good will, let me join the right hon. Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) in congratulating the Deputy Leader of the House on his speech in advance. I think that that is a very good practice, and it is probably the safest way to move forward. May I also associate myself with the right hon. Gentleman's remarks on mobile phone masts? They were well made, and there...
Andrew MacKay: I thought the right hon. Gentleman was going to spoil my next remarks by drawing Members' attention to the fact that President-elect Obama visited a pub in our country. He did so while visiting relatives in Bracknell, but unfortunately he chose to go to a pub in the neighbouring Wokingham constituency. That was a mistake, but I am sure it can be put right. It was refreshing to hear the hon....
Andrew MacKay: I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for that. We will all follow his inquiry very closely. On the involvement of senior police officers in the Met, I hope I am not being too cruel, but what keep coming back to me are the words of Alan Clark when he was referring to the generals in the first world war and the wonderful soldiers in the trenches, because our ordinary police officers...
Andrew MacKay: Does the Chancellor agree with his Cabinet colleague the Olympics Minister, who said this week that this is the worst recession that any of us have ever experienced?
Andrew MacKay: Way back in July, the parliamentary ombudsman published a telling report on Equitable Life. That was immediately followed by a promise from the Leader of the House that the Government would respond with a statement from the Dispatch Box in the autumn. That did not happen, and during the Queen's Speech debate the Prime Minister clearly and twice repeated that there would be a statement before...
Andrew MacKay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration he gave to increasing the rate of value added tax above 17.5 per cent. prior to his statement on the pre-Budget report.
Andrew MacKay: I congratulate the Minister on his courageous decision to part-privatise Royal Mail and assure him that when he introduces the legislation we will vote for it, so that—despite the clear number of Labour rebels that there will be—he will get it through.
Andrew MacKay: I am always anxious to give the Leader of the House the benefit of the doubt, so I accept that she was acting in good faith when she told the House in July, when the ombudsman's report was published, that there would be a statement on Equitable Life in the autumn. I am less able to give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt about what he told the House during the debate on the Address:...
Andrew MacKay: As it is clear that, in this recession, the biggest single problem facing most businesses is a lack of credit, does the Minister not see that his small firms loan guarantee scheme is inadequate, and that he should take up our proposal for a national loan guarantee scheme? It would cost a lot more money, but it would be paid for by scrapping the ridiculous reduction in VAT, which has not...
Andrew MacKay: If he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the common law offence of misconduct in a public office.
Andrew MacKay: Would the Secretary of State tell us how many civil servants have been arrested under this offence, how many of those civil servants were subsequently charged, and how many of those who were charged were then convicted in the courts? If he cannot answer today, will he ensure that an answer is put in the Library as quickly as possible?
Andrew MacKay: Returning to the letter from Mr. Quick to the Home Secretary yesterday, relating to the lack of writ that was provided when the search took place of the office of my hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Damian Green), there is a clear difference of opinion, or a major difference of fact, between what the Speaker said yesterday and what Mr. Quick said. Who does the Home Secretary believe? I...
Andrew MacKay: Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, you obviously took great trouble to be very clear and precise about the nature of Monday's debate. May I ask the Leader of the House why she has so totally ignored the Speaker's advice?
Andrew MacKay: The shadow Chancellor asked three very specific questions. Why did the Chancellor not even attempt to address any of them? Will he put the matter right now by at least answering one? Does he accept that the national debt will now double?
Andrew MacKay: As the poor Minister of State was unable to do so, will the Secretary of State now try to explain why gas and electricity prices are lower in France and Germany than they are in the UK? Will he also allay my constituents' fears that, with French-owned energy companies in this country, there might be some form of cross-subsidy that is not helping us?
Andrew MacKay: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the current capacity of UK gas storage facilities is; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew MacKay: While I welcome the Secretary of State's desire for transparency in the BBC, may I tempt him to go a little further and say that, as BBC staff are public servants like Members of Parliament, its senior executives' salaries should be published, as should their expenses?
Andrew MacKay: Following the bovine remarks of the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, the hon. Member for Grantham and Stamford (Mr. Davies), and his woefully incomplete apology in Defence questions on Monday, will the Leader of the House let us know on which day next week he will return to the House to apologise from the Dispatch Box for the slur that he cast on commanders in Afghanistan and Iraq,...
Andrew MacKay: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps the Serious Fraud Office is taking in response to the recommendations of the De Grazia report on its working practices.
