Speeches by Lamont.

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“Having reflected on the point made by the hon. Member for Blackley and Middleton South (Graham Stringer), I would add that the key difference is surely that MPs are elected by their constituents, but the Prime Minister is appointed by the monarch, on the basis that that person can command the confidence of the House of…”

“It is. Does the hon. Lady not recognise that we have had that debate in the UK? Part of Nick Clegg and David Cameron’s coalition agreement was a referendum on the alternative vote, and the British people rejected it in very large numbers.”

“My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. I do not want to downplay his greatness as a local constituency MP, but I am sure that, like me, he recalls the 2019 election in which he was first elected, and how many conversations we had with voters on the doorstep about the relative merits of the right hon. Member for …”

“I apologise for disrupting the Minister’s flow, but I would like to ask her to clarify what she just said. She seems to be arguing that she is opposed to a by-election happening at the point of defection, but I think she hinted at a personal view that was contrary to the view that she had previously been articulating.”

“I am grateful for the Minister’s analysis. I wonder whether she applies the same logic to her colleagues who have lost the Labour Whip because they have not complied with instructions to vote for Government policy that their constituents do not agree with.”

“The hon. Lady is making the case well on behalf of the Petitions Committee. Over the years, there have been a number of examples of some of my former Conservative colleagues ending up alongside Lib Dems in the House of Commons. In those circumstances, is the hon. Lady of the view that there should have been a by-electi…”

“Hospitality businesses in the Scottish borders are being squeezed by rising energy costs and wage and supply bills. Does the Minister think that this Labour Government’s jobs tax has helped or hindered the hospitality sector?”

“12. What assessment his Department has made of recent trends in levels of business confidence in the hospitality sector.”

“My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. I am sure that, like me, he has received many emails and letters from farmers over the last few days, given that the price of red diesel, heating oil and fertiliser has gone up in the light of recent uncertain events. Does that not demonstrate and remind us all how fragile …”

“Good morning, Lord Maude. When are public bodies used and when should they be used?”

“Over 50% of properties in the Scottish Borders are not on the mains gas grid and are completely dependent on heating oil. They are being hammered by the increase to the price of heating oil over the last week or so, and they need to see concrete action from this Government to stop the excessive prices and the profiteer…”

“In the different Departments responsible for ALBs, do Ministers fully understand how to control what these bodies are doing?”

“My experience, certainly, was that Ministers were appointed based on who had backed whom during various leadership elections, as opposed to whether they had leadership skills or the ability to develop policy. For me, that is always going to end in disaster.”

“Lord Maude, one thing you missed out during that last exchange was that surely the onus rests with the Prime Minister to make sure that the people he or she appoints have the skills to be Ministers?”

“Is that done on purpose? During my time as a Minister, I spoke to colleagues who were also Ministers, and some were told by their private office or by civil servants, “You can’t touch that. That is something away from us. It’s an arm’s length body.” Other Ministers were told, “You are the Minister. You can give directi…”

“But in terms of your objective, when you were in government, of trying to reduce the numbers, do you view that as a successful period?”

“Why would any Minister sign up to that? If they are losing control and handing over a responsibility for policy delivery, why on earth would they agree to that?”

“Do you think these bodies help Governments achieve their political objectives, or are they obstacles?”

“What is the cause? In opposition, probably all political parties say they want to cut back the number of these bodies, yet when they come into government, they fail to do so. What is the cause of that?”