UK Parliament / Open data

Proceedings During the Pandemic (No. 4)

Proceeding contribution from Steve Brine (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 2 September 2020. It occurred during Debate on Proceedings During the Pandemic (No. 4).

I am listening to the Leader of the House and of course he is right to talk about this Chamber—this House of Commons—and it is about this House of Commons, but I wonder whether he would address the point raised by the hon. Member for Westminster Hall, otherwise known as the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), about Westminster Hall, about the Backbench Business Committee, about the Petitions Committee, about the tapestry of debate in this place. Having been a Minister—a Public Health Minister, who spent most of his life in Westminster Hall answering debates—I know that is what keeps Ministers honest. That is what means that you have to be on top of your brief. Parliament is missing that tapestry, and therefore it is missing scrutiny—and not just on covid. There are many other issues that this place is missing out on because we have hobbled this place, and we are living a lie to the public at the moment. We have never worked harder, but we are not working hard here in SW1.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
679 c251 
Session
2019-21
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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