Speeches by Lamont.

“My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. Against a backdrop of the Jewish community asking for extra protections, it is entirely understandable that a petition built around allegations of hidden pro-Israel influence has generated such deep anxiety. Many British Jews hear in that language echoes of accusations that have…”

“Will the new system address that? It will not create any new Ministers or new spads to help with that process. It just strikes me that, ultimately, there is only so much capacity at that bit of the process. I do not know whether the new system will address that.”

“Can you identify the bottleneck that has been causing the drop in performance? Are the rewrites that you mentioned the main issue?”

“Good afternoon, Minister, and Mr Foot. I was going to ask about when you expect to get back to the 85% level, but you have confirmed that, hopefully, it is going to be in November. Can you explain what the process is within the Department? The question comes in and it goes to the policy people in the Department to draf…”

“Analysing what you just said and thinking back to my time in Government, sometimes there were issues with spads and the Minister sitting on responses and not signing them off quickly enough. Is that an issue?”

“Looking at it from the start of the process, in terms of this hypothetical Committee’s power to scrutinise a Minister’s decision about whether to hold an inquiry, do you think a Minister or Government would welcome the Committee’s scrutiny and judging of the decision, or would they guard that decision-making process fo…”

“You have touched on this already but the Committee recommended, “a new committee of Parliament should scrutinise a Minister’s decision not to hold a public inquiry.” Can you give us the pros and cons of such an approach, please?”

“How would you assess the tools that Parliament has currently to encourage Ministers to set up inquiries?”

“Is that over 80%?”

“Looking at recent history, what has been the split between statutory and non-statutory inquiries? Has there been any shift in recent years?”

“Is cost a factor when deciding between statutory and non-statutory inquiries?”

“Looking at the grooming gangs inquiry that the Government have now set up, initially they said they were not going to do that. Do you think that has come about because of the pressure that MPs and peers put on the Government, or because of public opinion or the press? What was the main reason?”

“Good morning, Lord Norton. The Statutory Inquiries Committee considered the format of inquiries and is in favour of a more flexible approach, including the use of non-statutory inquiries. What is your assessment of the balance of the different types of inquiries that are used?”

“I did not anticipate having 45 minutes to speak, but I will do my best to fill the time. I thank Mr Mason for starting this petition and the 120,000 people who signed it. I also thank the right hon. and hon. Members who have participated in the debate; there was perhaps more quality than quantity on this occasion, but …”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered e-petition 740671 relating to personal allowance for state pensioners. It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Dr Huq. I pay tribute to the petitioner, Tim Mason, and the 120,000 people who have signed the petition, including hundreds in my constituency in the Scottish Bo…”

“Sitting suspended.”

“Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business, please?”

“My thoughts, and I am sure those of the whole House, are with the man who was critically injured in the dreadful knife attack in Belfast on Monday evening. The bravery shown by members of the public who stepped in to help was nothing short of extraordinary. May I wish all those taking part in the common ridings and fes…”

“In a survey I conducted in the Borders about Network Rail’s new timetable changes, more than 70% of residents said they were now less likely to use Berwick-upon-Tweed station as a result. The timetable changes mean fewer direct services to London, with many passengers having to change trains. This is having a significa…”

“7. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of timetable changes on passengers using Berwick-upon-Tweed station.”