Alan Meale: Mr Benyon, I understand that you have ceded your one minute to Mr Burrowes behind you.
Alan Meale: Minister, I know time is going to be very tight, but if you could leave a minute for Mr Benyon to wind up, I am sure Members would be appreciative.
Alan Meale: Mr Jones, you have literally one minute. I am allowing you to speak only because I did not see your indication that you wanted to do so.
Alan Meale: Order. I intend to call the Front-Bench speakers at 5.10 pm so there is not much time left and a number of Members have indicated that they want to be called. If you could look at the clock and try to be as sparing as possible in your own contributions, that would help the general debate.
Alan Meale: Before we proceed, I say to Members that we are running very close to the line now. A number of Members have taken the trouble to write in and I need to try to call them all, so I ask each Member to restrict whatever they bring up to a maximum of five minutes, or hopefully less.
Alan Meale: Six Members have made written requests to speak. Our plan, under the guidelines, is to bring in the Front-Bench spokespeople at 10.30 am, so we have little time left. If speakers and anyone making interventions are very succinct, we will get in as many Members as possible in this important debate.
Alan Meale: Before the Minister begins, I ask him to leave a small period of time at the end so that the hon. Member for Bristol West (Thangam Debbonaire) can wind up.
Alan Meale: I call Alex Chalk to sum up—briefly.
Alan Meale: Before you begin, Minister, may I ask you to be so kind as to consider leaving up to a minute at the end of your speech for Mr Chalk to sum up?
Alan Meale: Mr Donaldson, everybody gets worried and wants more time. Don’t worry about it.
Alan Meale: Dr Cameron, you have five minutes.
Alan Meale: Order. Before I call Stuart Blair Donaldson, let me just tell you why you are being called last: because you intervened earlier and took some time. Do not think that your being new to the House goes against you in any way. You now have your four minutes.
Alan Meale: This is only a 60-minute debate and seven Members of Parliament have written in to take part, if they can. As is laid down by the Chairman of Ways and Means, I have to provide the Front Benchers a total of 20 minutes of speaking time, which only leaves a short period for all the hon. Members who have indicated that they want to speak. Therefore, I will impose a time limit of four minutes per...
Alan Meale: Order. This debate is a short one—only 30 minutes. The mover of the debate has so far been very understanding in giving way and I have been kind in allowing that, but perhaps we could allow him to make his speech and, if there is time left before the Minister speaks, I will be willing to allow other contributions. Perhaps hon. Members could be more understanding.
Alan Meale: First, I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on the fine way in which he has approached this important debate and got it going. This is an important question. In the 1960s, an ex-Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, forced through a report on the financial institutions, which revealed that over 70%—I think it was 74% at the time—of the FT share index was owned by pension funds. That shows how...
Alan Meale: In terms of the two figures I referred to, one is the overall figure for the whole country, but my hon. Friend is right; 2.5 to 3 million puppies are factory farmed for the trade.
Alan Meale: Everyone recognises that the trade is a cruel one, but surely the main problem—and the reason for highlighting South Korea—is that it is not simply a question of the tradition of eating dog meat; it is the scale. More than 5 million animals are killed every year, and nearly 3 million of those are farmed on puppy farms for that explicit purpose. It is not surprising that people highlight...
Alan Meale: With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Amendment 28, in clause 6, page 7, line 2, leave out paragraph (b) and insert— “(b) for ‘The Secretary of State may by order provide for the poll at an ordinary general election to be” substitute “The Presiding Officer may propose that the poll at an ordinary general election is.’” The Bill as drafted transfers the...
Alan Meale: Will my hon. Friend give way?
Alan Meale: I congratulate the hon. Lady on bringing forward this important matter for debate. There are Members present who have spoken in the House on the matter many times, and some who have introduced Bills. We all advocate increasing sentences, but another aspect of the matter is education, not only of those who engage in the practice in question, but of people who serve in courts administering and...