Only two of our (Sussex) MPs debated King’s Speech

Posted on November 13, 2023 by ianchisnall

(This article was published in the Brighton Argus today – 13th November 2023) Today is the first full week for Parliament following the very significant opening of Parliament with King Charles III first event last Tuesday. Last week only two Sussex MPs, Caroline Lucas and Peter Bottomly, contributed to the discussions taking place after the Kings Charles speech. Caroline also took part in the third discussion on Thursday at the end of Parliament last week. I find it very disappointing that no other Sussex MPs contributed. There may have been public comments from other Sussex MPs but they certainly did not contribute in Parliament last week.

There are of course several themes that many of us and some MPs would like the Government to promote now and in the near future. One of these issues is the question of when will the General Election take place? There are many people who would want elections to take place in May next year and there are many people who want an election well before December 2024 which is the fifth-year deadline. Six weeks before Boris Johnson left his post at number ten, Darrin Charlesworth set up a petition, entitled “Call an immediate general election to end the chaos of the current government”. In the first few weeks prior to Mr Johnsons departure about 12,000 people signed it. However, once Mr Johnson had left the number extended to nearly 900,000 people in a month. This petition is the second largest petition in the list of 50,000 petitions ever created.  The only other larger petition raised in the same time frame relates to “End child food poverty” which achieved more than one million signatures.

It has been encouraging that Parliament has continued to discuss the situation in Gaza during the frequent opening and closing periods. There have also been three public petitions about the ongoing conflict in Gaza which have achieved many signatures in the last few weeks. The largest is “Seek a ceasefire and to end Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip“ with 230,000 public signatures so far, the “Urge the Israel Government to allow fuel, electricity and food into Gaza” receiving 194,000 people and “Remain neutral in Israel-Palestine conflict and withdraw support for Israel” with 147,000 people.

A Labour MP for Leeds, Richard Burgon, published an Early Day Motion entitled “Protecting civilians in Gaza and Israel”. During the two weeks of parliament prior to the Kings speech, 93 MPs signed it and now that Parliament has re-opened, one more MP has endorsed it. Initially a significant number of Labour and SNP and Plaid Cymru people promoted this EDM which included, from Sussex, one of the Labour MPs Lloyd Russell-Moyle, the Green MP Caroline Lucas and one of the Conservative MPs Peter Bottomley. Last Tuesday Richard Burgon published an identical EDM entitled “Protecting civilians in Gaza and Israel” and so far 95 MPs have signed it including the same three Sussex MPs that signed the first EDM.

There are a number of organisations that have made the Government aware of their important views on a range of subjects. The National Autistic Society explained a few days ago that on Tuesday the Government dropped its promised Mental Health Bill. They expressed

“its hard to see what could be more worthy of Parlimentary time than addressing that autistic people are being inappropriately detained abused in mental health hospitals, often for years on end”.

They went on to say

“We really hoped that Tuesday’s King’s Speech would be used as an opportunity to finally bring the crucial measures in the Bill before Parliament. But despite a massive 18,234 of you signing our open letter to Rishi Sunak demanding the outdated Mental Health Act is urgently reformed, we’ve been let down, again. It will remain legal for autistic people to be detained just because they are autistic.”

They then explained that a young ambassador called Zaynab submitted a document to the Prime Minister on the 26 October and the document included the text

“Today’s news means countless more autistic people are put at risk. We’re in a crisis of autistic people being stuck in hospital where the average stay is five and half years. We need change now. Four years of inpatient care changed me and I can’t get that time back. We deserve to be empowered and understood. We deserve human rights. I want to see a world where mental health treatment is personalised and appropriate. I want to see autistic people being supported in their community, by people who understand autism. Today the Government has ignored our voices and delayed this crucial change for even longer.”

The National Autistic Society finished their expression with the statement

“Despite this we must find enough hope and determination to keep going for the more than 2,000 autistic people and people with a learning disability who are still stuck in mental health hospitals. We can’t afford to give up now and we are going to need your help to make sure this human rights scandal is not forgotten. We need some time to think about our next move, but we’ll be back in touch to ask for your help as soon as we’ve come up with a plan. The volume and speed of the support for our open letter is a great example of our shared power. Together our voices can and will create change.”

These are views within Parliament and the Nation and the Government must consider them.

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Armistice Day: UK holds two-minute silence at 11am

Posted on November 12, 2023 by ianchisnall

Today which is Sunday 12th November is the time when many of us focused on Armistice at 11am for at least 2 minutes because we often do so on a Sunday. However yesterday I was in the Waitrose shop in Hove at Nevill Road and at 11am because the 11th of November is the official day for session the shop asked all of us to stay quietly for two minutes which was very significant. Many of us were repeating it on Sundays including in many Churches. Here is the link to the BBC session which is also shown below in the text.

The UK has marked Armistice Day with a two-minute silence.

This year’s commemorations to remember the war dead involved the recently restored Big Ben striking 11 times.

The silence is held every year at 11:00 GMT on 11 November to mark the end of World War One in 1918.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that “as we salute our troops” this year, “Ukraine’s fight for freedom” will also be remembered.

Mr Cleverly attended a remembrance service held by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

In a statement issued ahead of his visit, Mr Cleverly said that the work of the “brave men and women who have served to give us peace” has “been shattered by a Russian aggressor”.

“The UK stands steadfast with our friends and allies in defence of freedom and democracy in Ukraine and I am proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with an historic ally in Paris,” he added.

Mr Cleverly will also meet with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and the pair will discuss, amongst other issues, the two countries’ support for Ukraine.

Back in the UK, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted a tribute, writing: “Today and forever, we will remember them.”

A number of services have been held across the UK.

In Edinburgh’s Garden of Remembrance, veterans, serving personnel and the public lay wreaths and the city’s famous One O’Clock Gun was fired from the castle.

In London, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer joined veterans and railway staff outside Euston station, while in Staffordshire, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester attended the National Memorial Arboretum Armistice Day Service.

The Met Office said conditions across the UK were “exceptionally mild” as it predicted that Friday could be the warmest Armistice Day on record.

Further tributes will be paid at services on Sunday, including one attended by the Royal Family at the Cenotaph – the first since the death of the Queen.

During the service, which the Prince and Princess of Wales will also attend, King Charles will lay a poppy wreath incorporating a ribbon of his racing colours of scarlet, purple and gold.

Royal racing colours were also incorporated into the wreaths of the late Queen, George V and George VI.

A wreath will also be laid on behalf of the Queen Consort for the first time, while she watches from the balcony of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office building.

Prince William will lay a wreath previously laid by his father, featuring the white Prince of Wales feathers and a new ribbon in Welsh red.

Big Ben will strike again on Remembrance Sunday to mark the beginning of the two minutes silence.

The bell has been largely silent for five years after it was dismantled and repaired in a renovation project.

During her 70-year reign the late Queen, who lived through World War Two, only missed seven Remembrance services – including in 2021 due to a back sprain.

The Royal Family will also attend the annual Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday evening.

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Could there be a Bishop Parliament for the Government?

Posted on November 11, 2023 by ianchisnall

I have just spotted that there is a Parliament in the North East area in County Durham which is described as the “Bishop Auckland”. The current MP in that setting is Dehenna Davison who is the Conservative MP. She took over that Parliament on 2019 and previously there were several Labour MPs in that setting from 1935-2019 and prior to that there was a Liberal MP from 1931-1935 and then previously from 1918-1931 there were Labour MPs and from 1885-1918 there were two Liberal MPs. So the Bishop Auckland location has been based since 1885 although none of the MPs have been Bishops. The Labour MP in Bishop Auckland from 1979-2005 is Derek Foster and he is a member of the House of Lords and he is the Lord Foster of Bishop Auckland. It appears that Bishop Auckland is a market town and civil parish it is 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Darlington and 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Durham. It is very fascinating that this is the only UK Parliament that is called a Bishop area.

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Roger Roberts call at King’s Speech – Debate (2nd Day)

Posted on November 10, 2023 by ianchisnall

A number of credible MPs and members of the House of Lords have spoken this week following the very significant first speech in Parliament of King’s Charles III Speech that took place on Tuesday. One of the Lords who spoke last week was Roger Roberts who is the Lord Roberts of Llandudno who is a very significant supporter for Liberal Democrat. Last month Roger had his 88th Birthday and he spoke on Wednesday which was the second day of the session contributions, here is his call which can be obtained from here.

My Lords, we search in vain for any mention of immigration reform in His Majesty’s Speech, even though, earlier on, one of five primary priorities for the Government was stopping the small boats. Yet there is no mention. The Government seem content, somehow, with what they are doing at present. Even though thousands of Home Office immigration decisions are overturned on appeal, there is no promise of reform. Suella Braverman even told the Tory conference last year:

“I would love to have a picture on a page of the Telegraph with a plane taking off to Rwanda. That’s my dream; it’s my obsession”.

The word was “obsession”. I question whether UK policies should be determined by a Minister’s obsessions and not by rational decision.

This is the same person who told us last week that homelessness was a chosen lifestyle, and that tents should be removed from the streets. Fellow human beings are treated as if they are an inferior brand of humanity. The proposal to use the Penally camp and Napier barracks as asylum accommodation goes in reverse of what reports said as far back as September 2020. They were not favourable. Preparing accommodation designed for other purposes to be used for asylum is very difficult at ordinary times, let alone during a pandemic, when the challenges are even greater. The barracks at both Napier and Penally had previously been used to house military personnel for short periods of one to two weeks, and required considerable renovation to make them suitable for relatively long-term asylum housing. It was therefore surprising that the Home Office gave them not the time required but only two weeks to make each site operational, with very little consultation. Similarly, the “Bibby Stockholm” barge, rented at £18 million a year to house 500 asylum seekers, has been empty for at least the last two months since legionnaires’ disease was discovered there.

Although Tories claim that curbing net inflow of migrants is a critical issue for voters and that immigration is something that they want to stop, new surveys prove that there is a much more positive response to immigration. People are far in advance of the Government. Refugees and asylum seekers are as much human beings as every one of us in this Chamber and they should be respected. Not one of us chooses our place of birth or the conditions in which we grow and the opportunities we enjoy or are denied. I am very proud of my Welsh background, but as one of the human family with many languages and cultures, I need to look at the world around. It might be to Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Gaza or even our fellow nations of the UK. They are our family: brothers, sisters, children. To act otherwise is to deny the law of creation and humanity. It is our opportunity to make the most of these relationships and to strengthen them. Unfortunately, in recent years for imagined electoral gain, words and actions have divided and separated. Let us put a halt to this and aim to heal and unite. Mae pob un yn yr un teulu—every one of us is a part of the same human family.

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Theresa May, previous PM referred to Brighton & Hove

Posted on November 9, 2023 by ianchisnall

On Tuesday afternoon in Parliament following from the Presentation by the King Charles III setting out his first session there were a number of MPs who spoke in response. One of them was Caroline Lucas from Brighton Pavilion and the only other one in Sussex was Peter Bottomley from Worthing West. However another person who spoke during the session did mention Brighton and Hove. It was Theresa May, the previous Prime Minister and she did refer to Alistair Strathern who is the Labour MP for Mid Bedfordshire and she then focused on Brighton & Hove because apparently her cousin was a Liberal Democrat colleague in our City! The text is from here and of course she has been to our area in the past when the Conservatives had run their Party Conferences in Brighton.

I draw the House’s attention to two entries in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests: I am director and chair of the Global Commission for Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, and I chair the Aldersgate Group, which brings businesses, non-governmental organisations, academics and others together to champion a prosperous, net zero emissions, environmentally-sustainable economy. Both of those roles are unpaid.

I am sorry that Alistair Strathern is no longer in his seat. I wanted to take the opportunity to welcome him to the House, despite the fact that I worked to make sure he did not get here. The reason I wanted to welcome and congratulate him is that he is my first cousin once removed. I am not sure whether that connection will do more damage to his career or mine. In case hon. Members are wondering about the family, we share a relative who, I am told, toyed with communism in his youth and another relative—my cousin, the hon. Member’s uncle—who was the former Liberal Democrat leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, so we cover all bases

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It’s fantastic for Seaford Mayor to hold a Carol Service

Posted on November 7, 2023 by ianchisnall

A few hours ago Olivia Honeyman published that she is organising a Carol Service on 13th December at 6.30pm at St Leonards Church in Seaford which is located in the town centre. The Church is in the Parish of Sutton in Seaford which is part of the Diocese of Chichester and the vicar is James Hollingsworth. Olivia is a member of the Liberal Democrats in Seaford South and she recently commented in Sussex Express website “It was a fantastic afternoon, and great to see so many people enjoying the civic reception with all the singing and dancing, thanks to everyone who participated in the event, and to everyone involved in organising the reception. We were pleased to raise awareness of the Mayor and Young Mayor’s charities, please support them.” The Seaford website of the Council is entitled Councillor Contact Details and it is located here.

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Parliament shuts again…this time for the King

Posted on November 6, 2023 by ianchisnall

(This article was published in the Brighton Argus today – 6th November 2023) Tomorrow Parliament is opening up again with the King present for the first time for over a year. The public comment on the website, ‘TheyWorkForYou’, currently provides this comment

The State Opening of Parliament will take place. The House will meet at 11.25am for the King’s Speech. Members may follow the Speaker and party leaders to hear the speech delivered in the Lords. Afterwards the House will suspend until 2.30pm.

Parliament actually finished at the close of Thursday 26th October but this fact was not made public on the website until the actual day of the closure. The website changed the text for that week which previously included a modest list of actions that would take each day in Parliament replacing it with the phrase “Parliament is now prorogued until the State Opening on Tuesday 7 November.” Further information with descriptions about State Opening, the Kings Speech, the debates connected with the Kings Speech and Prorogation is provided in the Parliament website.

When is State Opening? State Opening happens on the first day of a new parliamentary session or shortly after a general election. The next State Opening, His Majesty the King’s first as Monarch, will take place on 7 November 2023. The last State Opening of Parliament took place on 10 May 2022, at the start of the 2022-23 session of Parliament. On this occasion, Parliament was opened by the then Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge as Counsellors of State for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The ‘TheyWorkForYou’ comment

The debate on the King’s Speech is then opened. Two backbench Members from the Government side will propose and second a motion for an Address (thanking the King for the Speech), after which the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister will speak. Debate on the King’s Speech may continue until 10.00pm on this day and will be resumed on subsequent days. The debate normally lasts for six sitting days: the Speaker will announce at the start of the debate which subjects are to be the main subject of debate on each day.

On another page with the headline of “Parliament prorogued ahead of State Opening” the Government states

Prorogation marks the end of a parliamentary session and brings to an end almost all business in Parliament. It is the formal name given to the period between the end of a session of Parliament and the State Opening of Parliament that begins the next session. Prorogation usually takes the form of an announcement, on behalf of the King, read in the House of Lords. As with the State Opening, it is made to both Houses and the Speaker of the House of Commons and MPs attend the Lord’s chamber to listen to the speech.

It does bring into question that way back on the 20th July, why was it that the leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt stated,

I can confirm that the State Opening of Parliament will take place on 7 November 2023. As is usual, the current session of Parliament will be prorogued ahead of the King’s Speech and this time will be used to enable logistical and security preparations for the State Opening of Parliament. The likely date of prorogation will be confirmed in due course.

Parliament then proceeded to close for the six – week summer break, opened on September 4th for two weeks and two days prior to closing for the Party Conferences. Opening again on the 16th October for two weeks promptly closing for the State Opening on November 7th Over the last fifteen weeks Parliament has only held discussions for four weeks and two days. On the 19th of October before the Government chose to close Parliament, the National Autistic Society, who are working very hard to ensure that MP’s and Parliament are informed about important education matters published a statement entitled “No-one likes having to change carefully laid plans but…” going on to say;

We’ve just learnt that Parliament will now be closed on the date we were due to have our ‘Let Every Autistic Child Learn’ event with MPs. This unexpected change is frustrating, but the rules of Parliament mean decisions about when to close ahead of the King’s Speech are only just being made. The speech is a kind of reset for parliament, marking the start of the new parliamentary session. The next chance for us to hold our event for MPs to hear first-hand from autistic people about the urgent changes needed in the education system is likely to be in January. Three months feels like a long time to wait but we are more worried that one in four parents (26%) said they had to wait three years for the right support for their child. That’s three years of their children’s education being compromised.  But don’t worry, your invitations haven’t gone to waste. Thank you to the 3,000 of you who told your MP how much this matters. We’ll be back in touch soon to ask for your help in making sure they attend. In the meantime, we will continue to stand up for the thousands of autistic children in the UK and will be arranging to meet MPs and running sessions to help parliamentarians to understand autism.

I hope that the next few weeks will be a more robust period in Parliament enabling Sussex MPs to work together on vital international and essential national matters.  

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Eastbourne MP asks about Holiday Activities and Food

Posted on November 5, 2023 by ianchisnall

On Monday 23rd October in Parliament one of the the sessions that took place was organised by Caroline Ansell who is the Eastbourne MP. She began the session with a request “What recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the holiday activities and food programme.” and the Education Minister who responded was Gillian Keegan who is the MP for Chichester. She made an initial response and then Caroline responded another call and Gillian responded again.

Gillian Keegan: The holiday activities and food programme introduced by this Government is hugely important to families up and down the country and supported 685,000 children last summer. We know the positive impacts that these programmes are having on a range of issues, such as by improving attendance. One child in Stoke who attended a HAF programme run by the Kingsland CE Academy increased their school attendance by 32% and is no longer considered to be persistently absent. That is just one example of the wonderful work that HAF programmes do, and there is also strong evidence that they improve health, behaviour and confidence in children.

Caroline Ansell: I have seen at first hand just how brilliant the Government-backed holiday activities and food programmes are for children and young people and their families in Eastbourne. In one magical piece of feedback, a little girl at the Art House café sidled up to me and said, “One day I will own a place just like this,” and I have seen the same energy across the piece. Given that we are hoping that there is a connection between attendance and HAF uptake, what more can we do to provide and promote opportunities for children and young people with SEND, and also for the 11-plus and early teens?

Gillian Keegan: When it launched, HAF was the first summer camp for hundreds of thousands of children—70% had never experienced a holiday club before—and this summer, 4,000 children benefited in East Sussex. HAF is open to children from ages five to 16. Local authorities should meet the needs of all cohorts, including by offering programmes for older children and those with special educational needs. I urge all hon. Members to visit their local HAF over the Christmas recess; they really are heart-warming.

There was also another call from Sharon Hodgson who is the Labour MP for Washington and Sunderland West which can be obtained from here that was also responded by Gillian.

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Many MPs agree new rules to ease EV charging

Posted on November 4, 2023 by ianchisnall

Last week on the 25th October Jack Loughran published a document on the Institution of Engineering of Technology which is entitled in “MPs agree new rules to ease EV charging” that can be obtained from here. I have included some other details from Parliament on the following day that focus on EV charging. The initial words from Jack are

MPs have agreed on new regulations that will ensure transparent pricing across electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints, as well as ensuring contactless payment options are available. While it’s always cheapest to charge at home, prices can vary between public chargepoints. Those using rapid and ultra-rapid chargers are even at risk of paying more than their fossil fuel counterparts.

A few words later he wrote about a contribution from Jesse Norman who is a Minister of State in the Department for Transport who is the Conservative MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire. His boss in the department is Mark Harper who is the MP for Forest of Dean and as it happens one of the other MPs from the department is Huw Merriman who is the Sussex MP in Bexhill and Battle who I am very aware of. The comment from Jesse in the IET event is below

Decarbonisation minister Jesse Norman said: “Over time, these new regulations will improve EV charging for millions of drivers, helping them find the chargepoints they want, providing price transparency so that they can compare the cost of different charging options and updating payment methods. “They will make the switch to electric easier than ever for drivers, support the economy and help the UK reach its 2035 goals.”

Following on from the session on IET on Thursday 26th October at the last day of Parliament for a break there was a session Support for Motorists and one of the MPs who spoke was Bill Esterson who is the Labour MP for Sefton Central which includes Crosby where I was born and raised till I moved to Brighton. He asked

Pothole repairs halved since 2016; insurance premiums up; fuel prices up; electric charge point roll-out 10 years behind schedule; £950 million EV charge point fund still not open three years after being announced; 10% trade tariffs threatening consumers and manufacturers—which of those is not an example of where this Government have failed drivers over the last 13 years?

Mark Harper responded with this text

The hon. Gentleman had a number of things that he purported to suggest were facts. Let me just pick one of them: the roll-out of EV charging. That is absolutely on track according to the independent assessment from the National Infrastructure Commission. The number of public charge points is up 43%. As the Minister of State, my right hon. Friend Jesse Norman set out, we have published and laid before the House the legislation to implement our zero-emission vehicle mandate, which gives the industry the confidence to invest in and roll out those charge points, to drive the roll-out of electric vehicles. We are absolutely on track to do that, and I am surprised that the hon. Gentleman does not welcome it.

On the same day there was a session Decarbonising Road Transport and it was opened by the SNP MP Stuart McDonald who began with the comment “What assessment he has made of the adequacy of progress on decarbonising road transport.” and after his responses from Jesse Norman the next person to comment was Gavin Newlands who is a SNP MP who stated

I am still astonished at the Secretary of State’s claims that the English EV charging  network is on track—absolutely no one thinks that in this country. Pushing back the date for the ban on petrol and diesel cars by five years, combined with removing what was already one of Europe’s worst EV purchase incentive schemes, means that this Government are sending all the wrong signals to consumers. Mike Hawes of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said that consumers required

“a clear, consistent message, attractive incentives and charging infrastructure that gives confidence rather than anxiety. Confusion and uncertainty will only hold them back.”

I have no doubt that this decision was thoroughly assessed, so can the Minister tell us how many extra millions of tonnes of carbon will be emitted due to this Government’s back-pedalling on net zero?

The comment from Jesse Norman was

Was it P. G. Wodehouse who said that it was not difficult to see the difference between a ray of sunshine and a Scotsman with a grievance? How true that is in this case! The truth of the matter is that there has been enormous progress in this area. Let me remind the hon. Gentleman that £6 billion of new private investment is being planned by ChargeUK. That has not been affected. One of the leading global mandates has been laid. We have just done this excellent work on charge points, and I am pleased to say that the independent National Infrastructure Commission of this country has stated that if the roll-out continues to grow at the current rate, we will meet our target of 300,000 public chargers by 2030.

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Ultra-processed Food – will the Government work on it?

Posted on November 3, 2023 by ianchisnall

At the last Thursday in the House of Lords there was a session entitled Ultra-processed Food which Natalie Bennett who is a member of the Green Party opened the session with “To ask His Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the impact on public health of ultra processed food; and what steps if any they will take to reduce the amount of ultra processed food consumed.” and a few moments later the Labour Clive Brooke asked a question and both Natalie and Clive were responded to from the Government which was responded by Nick Markham. Here is the location and below is the texts from Nick and Natalie.

Nick: Observed associations between ultra-processed food and health are concerning, but it is unclear whether these foods are inherently unhealthy due to processing or their nutritional content. A diet high in processed food is often high in calories, salt, saturated fat and sugar, which are associated with an increased risk of obesity and chronic diseases. This continues to be the basis of our dietary guidelines and policies to tackle obesity and poor diets.

And here is the item from Clive

Clive: My Lords, as far as I recall, it was said that we should keep it simple and that the focus should be on sugar. When will the Government look at children’s school meals, review the regulations and reduce the sugar in children’s free school meals?

Nick: The noble Lord makes a very good point. A healthy start to life is vital, which is why I am very pleased to say that we have the highest level of free school meals ever, with every infant school kid and a third of children overall having a free school meal. On the composition of those foods, I know that this was planned but was stopped due to Covid. The timing is now being reviewed again, because things move on in terms of the content and healthy foods.

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