Gerry Sutcliffe: I understand the thrust of what the Minister says about small and medium-sized businesses, but it is important that there should be an overarching organisation. As I said in my speech, before the tourist board and Welcome to Yorkshire, areas competed against each other. There is a need for co-ordination. That is why we are concerned about the long-term future of Welcome to Yorkshire.
Gerry Sutcliffe: I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Selby and Ainsty (Nigel Adams) for raising this important debate. I am delighted that members of Welcome to Yorkshire are in the Chamber and that parliamentary colleagues from all parties are united in saying how wonderful Yorkshire is. I say that as a Lancastrian. By an accident of birth, I was born in Salford, but I have lived and worked in...
Gerry Sutcliffe: I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. He is rightly making the point that tourism is important to local economies, particularly in cities such as Bradford, as is the investment that comes to Bradford from tourism, whether in Haworth or the variety of other assets that we have, and which I will talk about later. Should not the Government recognise that if that funding ceases,...
Gerry Sutcliffe: rose —
Gerry Sutcliffe: I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. Is he satisfied by the Minister’s response about the assurances from the Metropolitan police? The hon. Gentleman will accept that this was a key point that we all raised in Committee. Is he prepared to accept the Minister’s words as outlined? Would he not prefer to see some written evidence or some written response from the Met to confirm that it...
Gerry Sutcliffe: My hon. Friend, who is making a forceful point, will remember Lord Carlile’s evidence to the Committee about the cost of surveillance. He said that the new TPIMs regime will increase the amount of human surveillance and that we could be talking about £18 million. We have not heard anything from the Minister about Lord Carlile’s evidence. Is that another area of concern for her?
Gerry Sutcliffe: This crucial point came up in Committee. I understand what the Minister is saying. He sought reassurances from the Met, as we would expect, but we had the evidence of DAC Osborne. If the process is to work, surely we should have before us a letter of confirmation from the Met stating what the Minister is telling us and assuring us that the Met have revised their position as set out in DAC...
Gerry Sutcliffe: If the Minister’s plans are to support local government, what powers will he give it when developers do not deliver? The Westfield shopping centre in Bradford has taken 10 years to happen, and the local authority has no powers to get the developers to deliver. Has he considered such powers in his new proposals?
Gerry Sutcliffe: These are indeed difficult times and the safety of our communities is important. The Prime Minister talked about the Olympics and the damage to our international reputation. It was right that the England international was cancelled on Wednesday, but is it right that Premier League and Football League fixtures may be cancelled this week? What is the Prime Minister’s view?
Gerry Sutcliffe: Returning to the security of the Olympics, is it not time that a pause was taken, given the evidence presented to the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Bill Committee by Assistant Deputy Commander Osborne that it would take 12 months to get the resources in place to deal with the new TPIMs? Is it not time, now that we have lost the two most senior officers in counter-terrorism,...
Gerry Sutcliffe: Further to that point of order, Mr Caton. May I put on record our thanks to you and to Mr Scott for your chairmanship of the Committee? Like the Minister, I want to thank the Clerks, and the Doorkeepers and the police, who all who keep us safe. The quality of debate in Committee has been excellent. I am grateful that the Opposition had the experience of two former Home Office Ministers, now...
Gerry Sutcliffe: I shall be brief, because the arguments on resources have been well rehearsed by my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Ladywood, and by my right hon. Friends the Members for Salford and Eccles and for Wythenshawe and Sale East. There is a tremendous responsibility on the Minister to respond to those points. I accept that the Minister has a difficult job in relation to the Bill. My right...
Gerry Sutcliffe: My right hon. Friend rightly says that we do not want to delve into particular cases. It is unfair of the Government to say that we cannot discuss any of this at any time. Would it be a good idea, at some stage down the track, if the Joint Intelligence Committee—
Gerry Sutcliffe: —and the ISC had the opportunity to discuss these issues with the Government?
Gerry Sutcliffe: My hon. Friend makes a powerful case for both amendments. Is she surprised that the Government and some of their Back Benchers are trying to stop a debate taking place when this Government have introduced more opportunities for Back Benchers—
Gerry Sutcliffe: Back Benchers have more opportunities to have their say in a variety of Backbench Business Committee debates on the Floor of the House each Thursday. I find it surprising that Back Benchers are arguing that they do not want to hold the Executive to account.
Gerry Sutcliffe: The hon. and learned Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham—[ Interruption. ] If I ever have the opportunity, I would be delighted to visit his constituency. In the debate on schedule 8, he made the point that we were discussing clause 26, but this debate gives us the chance to go into even more detail on the clause. My right hon. Friend the Member for Salford and Eccles is exactly right....
Gerry Sutcliffe: I might be wrong, but the explanatory notes state that the TPIM notice can go beyond two years if new activity occurs. [ Interruption. ] Well, I look forward to the Minister’s clarifying the position. The clause is about interpretation and the Government have sold the Bill as being different from control orders. We are concerned about that, and we will return to the matter in our...
Gerry Sutcliffe: Good morning to you, Mr Scott, and to the Committee. We continue our deliberations on this very important Bill. Will the Minister explain the thinking behind the schedule and the circumstances in which it will apply, as that would be helpful not only for me but for the Committee?
Gerry Sutcliffe: We had a statement last Thursday. Why are waiting until this Thursday when we could have debated the exceptional Bill today? There is an increased cost to the police in terms of their not understanding what the position is and their having to do bail at the doorstep level. Could we not have had the opportunity at least to see the draft Bill given that the Minister had the statement ready on...