John Denham: May we have an early debate on compensation for victims of badly installed cavity wall insulation? Many people, including my constituents, have had cavity wall insulation carried out, funded by the obligations placed on energy companies by the Government. When that goes wrong, as it sometimes does, the Government refuse to intervene and the Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency, the industry...
John Denham: The tragedy is that we are so close to a lasting settlement for England and the Union. We could agree on devolution in England, we could agree on an elected second Chamber, and we could also clearly agree on changes here. Does the Leader of the House not understand that his partisan and highly political desire to rush to an early vote in the Westminster club on just one element puts at risk...
John Denham: Can I take it from the Leader of the House’s words that whatever the statutory instrument is on, it will not be on English votes for English laws? When he brings forward the White Paper, will it include proposals to take the options he identifies out to the country at large for discussion, debate and amendment, before anything is brought back to this House?
John Denham: Scotland will get what Scotland wants, but when will England get what it wants? Does the Secretary of State agree that we need much more radical change in Westminster than has currently been contemplated, more radical devolution within England than has currently been delivered or offered, and a much more open, inclusive and democratic process than that being led by the Leader of the House?
John Denham: It is at times like this that we are reminded of Disraeli’s observation that the English are governed by Parliament, not by logic. There is a lot to be sorted out in this regard. I start from the simple point that England must get what England wants. The change that is now taking place must lead to change in England. The question is what that change is and then how it will be decided by the...
John Denham: The right hon. Gentleman proposed an English Parliament, but he will have noticed that the Prime Minister has excluded that option from the debate. Would he not rather have the process of a constitutional convention through which he could pursue his argument for an English Parliament, if that is what he thinks is right, and the rest of us could pursue what we think is right? Back in 2007, I...
John Denham: I am grateful to the Leader of the House. A few moments ago he said that the way in which English votes on English laws is delivered would be the subject of a great deal of debate. Why is he not proposing to involve the people of England in a discussion about how England should be governed? Why is he saying that he has all the wisdom to force this through in a Cabinet discussion without any...
John Denham: It is clear that Scotland will now get what Scotland wants, and so England must get what England wants. The Secretary of State has outlined a process through which the debate about Scotland’s future reached every corner of Scottish society. Does he agree that, in determining our future, England must have that same opportunity and that to push changes through a narrow Cabinet Committee on an...
John Denham: I thank the Minister. I know that his interest in these matters predates his appointment to the Front Bench, on which I congratulate him. I hope that we can develop the same relationship we had with his predecessor, who personally went further than other Ministers had done to raise the issue with the Pakistan authorities. I want to say three things. First, I want to put on record my tribute...
John Denham: I beg to move, That this House has considered the position of Hazaras in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I am grateful for this debate, and I speak as an MP and as chair of the Hazara all-party parliamentary group. In recent weeks, we have seen ethnic and religious minorities face appalling violence at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq and Syria. This debate is about...
John Denham: I think there is indeed a strong case for that, and I will come in a moment to the responsibility of the international community. In other parts of Pakistan, the Pakistan state has made significant efforts against, for example, the Pakistan Taliban, that have not been made in Quetta. The Pakistan Government are clearly in breach of their international obligation to protect their people. We...
John Denham: I will take one more intervention.
John Denham: There have been some arrests, as I understand it, but nobody has yet been successfully brought to justice. That is a matter of grave concern. As I said, the UN has strong policies, but we have to make much more progress at the international level. Let me turn briefly to Afghanistan. The fall of the Taliban brought representation in the political system and support for the Hazaras’...
John Denham: I will give way one last time.
John Denham: It is a real issue that the Hazaras have often not been given a voice in international conferences and also, I have to say, in relation to our Government and their aid programme. That voice must be found. My final point is this. The international community now generally recognises that talks between the Afghan Government and the Taliban are both unavoidable and necessary, but it has to be...
John Denham: May we have a debate on compensation for faulty work carried out under the affordable warmth obligation? The Mark Group carried out work on the home of a constituent of mine, presenting itself as delivering a Government scheme, but now neither it nor the regulator or Ministers are willing to act to compensate my constituent.
John Denham: In a lecture to the RSA in January, I set out the case for employer co-sponsored degrees, so I am delighted by my right hon. Friend the leader of the Labour party’s announcement of his backing for new high-level technical degrees that, as he said, would be delivered in partnership with industry, co-funded and co-designed by employers. In the furore around the £9,000 tuition fees, not so...
John Denham: I will give way to my right hon. Friend, but I do not have long.
John Denham: I shall come to that point. There are other reasons why we need the change. The welcome expansion of higher education has had a less welcome aspect, in my view. Universities have increasingly concentrated on the most expensive model of higher education—the full-time honours degree studied away from home. More than ever before, higher education is a one-shop deal for 18 and 19-year olds. Our...
John Denham: Does not a more measured view of the history tell us the following: in 1997, fewer than 20,000 people completed apprenticeships, but by the time the previous Labour Government had finished, 285,000 people were starting apprenticeships each year? That number has continued to grow, but there are legitimate concerns about an increasing number of late starts and a smaller proportion of youthful...