Patrick Grady: Another lesson that can be learned from Scotland is how the Scottish Parliament takes forward private Members’ Bills. This is the second Bill on votes at 16 this Session that is in danger of being talked out. The reality is that if such a proposal had the same amount of support in the Scottish Parliament as it clearly does here, it would go through because Holyrood’s system...
Patrick Grady: On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I believe that the word “cruel” has been used in the past because the system can be so unfair on Members, but I withdraw the word “corrupt”.
Patrick Grady: I pay tribute to the hard work that my hon. Friend has put into this Bill and the passion with which she is speaking. She has had very personal experiences that have led to her commitment to taking all this forward. This amendment is important because the relationship between parents and their offspring is changing. Nowadays, children may go back to live with their parents at much later...
Patrick Grady: I know that we want to hear from the Minister, so I will be as brief as I can be. I congratulate the hon. Members for Tewkesbury (Mr Robertson), for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) and for Poplar and Limehouse (Jim Fitzpatrick) on securing this debate, especially after the Westminster Hall debate in December 2017. Once again we have heard a range of very powerful contributions by Members who have...
Patrick Grady: I too have had constituents affected by this, and agree with many comments made throughout the debate. My hon. Friend is making the case for a public inquiry, otherwise it will fuel suspicions that there is an attempt to continue to keep this matter away from the public eye. She also highlights the fact that we are talking about the Global Restructuring Group. Does she agree that the Minister...
Patrick Grady: Does this not show up the whole private Members’ Bills system for the farce that it is? It was described as a cruel system in the most recent Procedure Committee report on the matter, which made some fundamental, positive and progressive suggestions for reform, not least that the Backbench Business Committee should allocate some of the time for Bills that genuinely have support...
Patrick Grady: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will respond to EDM 925, Professionalism and value of the British Civil Service.
Patrick Grady: My hon. and learned Friend is making absolutely important points. This point about other vulnerable communities is hugely important, because more and more is coming to light. Does she agree that, in the light of the Windrush scandal, now is the opportunity for the UK Government to regularise the status of the Chagos islanders, who were forced off their land by the British state in the 1960s...
Patrick Grady: I am sure that, in the interests of co-operation, the Government would not want to do anything that undermines the devolution settlement. Do they not recognise that the Conservatives are isolated in the Scottish Parliament, where there is a cross-party consensus that the EU withdrawal Bill is not fit for purpose? Will the Secretary of State therefore ensure that the House of Lords is not...
Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to the oral contribution of the Prime Minister of 25 April 2018, Official Report, Column 870, whether the citizenship status will be offered to (a) residents and (b) children of residents of the Chagos Islands that were evicted from those islands between 1967 and 1973 that now reside in the UK.
Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will respond to EDM 876 on visitor visas for people from India.
Patrick Grady: Does the Home Secretary consider the Chagos islanders, who are in the UK because they were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands by the British state, to be illegal migrants? Do any attempts to remove them count towards these targets?
Patrick Grady: I do not think that anyone disagrees that there might be a need for common frameworks, but I do not think they would disagree either that democratic decisions by democratically elected Parliaments are artificial barriers, so will the Secretary of State guarantee that no frameworks will be imposed across the UK without the democratic consent of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly?
Patrick Grady: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what representations the Commission has received on the potential installation of electronic voting systems in the Chamber as part of (a) the restoration and renewal programme and (b) the northern estate programme.
Patrick Grady: Can the right hon. Gentleman explain whether the Commission would be prepared to receive any such representations, or whether there should be some other mechanism by which this House can actually have a proper debate and a proper discussion about dragging ourselves somewhere into the late 20th century in time for this restoration and renewal somewhere in the middle of the 21st century?
Patrick Grady: In the interests of facilitating negotiations, will the Secretary of State confirm whether the Lords will be asked to agree to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill on Third Reading before the Scottish Parliament has had time to consider a legislative consent memorandum?
Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received from consumer rights organisations on reports of gas providers overcharging consumers and providing inadequate compensation and redress to those consumers.
Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received from sector organisations on reports of gas providers overcharging consumers and providing inadequate compensation and redress to those consumers.
Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with (a) sector organisations and (b) consumer rights organisations on reports of gas providers overcharging consumers and providing inadequate compensation and redress to those consumers.
Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will review the system for redress and compensation to consumers who have been overcharged by energy companies.