Patrick Cormack

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Parliamentary speeches by Sir Patrick Cormack, December 2009

West Bank (Economy)

2nd December 2009

Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire) (Con): Bearing in mind both this and the earlier exchanges, will the Secretary of State take an early opportunity to inform the Israeli ambassador that nothing could better enhance the reputation of his country than Israel beginning to behave as a good neighbour?

Mr. Alexander: I assure the hon. Gentleman that we have regular contact with not only the Israeli ambassador, but all levels of the Israeli Government. As recently as yesterday, I took the opportunity to discuss not only the situation in Gaza, but, more generally, the situation in the middle east with Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defence Minister. That reflects the continuing dialogue that takes place on these important issues.

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

2nd December 2009

Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire) (Con): Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. For further clarification, if the motion moved by the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) is carried and we move on to the next business, we shall then have to debate the IPSA motion on a future occasion. Presumably you would then be minded to accept another amendment such as that which you have accepted as being lawful and in order tonight-so we would be back to square one, would we not?

Mr. Speaker: I think that it was the late Lord Whitelaw who said that on the whole, he tended to believe in crossing bridges only when he came to them. However, I have noted what the hon. Gentleman has said, which is firmly on the record-and his remarks about the selection of amendments are in no way eccentric.

Topical Questions

7th December 2009

Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire) (Con): Will the Secretary of State be able to offer any Christmas cheer to those of my pensioner constituents who are victims of Equitable Life?

Yvette Cooper: The hon. Gentleman will know that Judge Chadwick is currently reviewing the circumstances of many people who were affected by Equitable Life, and that there are a lot of problems for a lot of pensioners who have been badly affected. The Government have said that additional support should be given, and we are waiting for Judge Chadwick's response.

Smarter Government

7th December 2009

Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire) (Con): Will the Chief Secretary do me a very great favour? Will he read an account of Britain after 12 years of Labour rule written in plain, simple English, shorn of the jargon with which his statement was laden? It is "Bog-Standard Britain" by Mr. Quentin Letts.

Mr. Byrne: Sometimes I am forced to read the words of Quentin Letts, but I tend to avoid it when I can.

Social Inclusion

9th December 2009

Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire) (Con): Although I endorse what the hon. Member for City of York (Hugh Bayley) has just said, may I ask the Minister to acquire a copy of "The Complete Plain Words" by Sir Ernest Gowers, so that she can start talking in English and get rid of terms such as "social inclusion", "social exclusion" and "third sector", and all this gobbledegook, which separates the very people we are trying to help from this place?

Angela E. Smith: That is the first time I have ever been accused of talking gobbledegook; I think that people understand terms such as "socially included" and "socially excluded", and find them helpful. I have some sympathy with what the hon. Gentleman says about the term "third sector" and if he could come up with a better one, that would be helpful. In some ways, I regard the "third sector"-the wider charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprise-as pretty much the first sector.

Business of the House

10th December 2009

Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire) (Con): Would the Leader of the House ensure that the Wright report and the minority report are debated side by side with the report on the election of Deputy Speakers? Could we have a full day for that, not one that is delayed by statements, so that many people can take part in the debate?

Ms Harman: I take note of those points, which are seriously made. I should say that we often decide that we really want to protect a day, and on such days, for example, Opposition days, we never want to put on Government statements. That is because our doing so encroaches on the Opposition's time for the subject that they have chosen for debate. Sometimes statements are made because of a genuine emergency and we have to bring them to the House. Obviously, I want to ensure that there is a full day's debate on the Wright report, but I cannot guarantee that a statement will not need to be made to the House.

Future Defence Programme

15th December 2009

Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire) (Con): Will the Secretary of State think again about withdrawing the minehunter from the Gulf? Does he remember the signals that were sent out and what happened when the survey ship Endurance was removed from the south Atlantic?

Mr. Ainsworth: Of course, I will bear in mind the points made by the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox). However, the hon. Member for South Staffordshire (Sir Patrick Cormack) should not exaggerate the situation. We have minehunters active in the Gulf area, as we have had for a considerable time. They are very valuable assets that a lot of nations appreciate.

Dissident Republican Groups

16th December 2009

Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire) (Con): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and a very merry Christmas.

Does the Secretary of State agree that 2009 would have been a very much blacker year had it not been for the achievements of the PSNI in defusing some terrible bombs that could have caused enormous harm? Will he give the House the categorical assurance that the PSNI will be kept up to strength and increased in strength to combat that terrible threat?

Mr. Woodward: May I first take this opportunity on behalf of the House to record our thanks to the hon. Gentleman for his tireless work in Northern Ireland and with the Select Committee? I say that conscious of the decision that he has announced in relation to next year. We thank him for what he has done, and the people of Northern Ireland are extremely grateful for his work and that of his Committee.

The work of the PSNI in 2009 has been tireless and successful, despite enormous provocation. The House will wish to know that had the bomb intended for the Policing Board headquarters gone off, it would have caused certainly severe damage to the building and probably severe loss of life. Brilliant work by the PSNI and the services across the board continues to ensure that these criminals who call themselves dissidents do not succeed. I only hope that next year will be an even better year for the PSNI.