I began Business of the House Questions with the government’s shambolic lobbying bill which will return from the House of Lords next week. So far we have had a panic pause, a flurry of amendments designed to silence the huge chorus of critical voices and then the government still managed to lose two crucial votes. Even in its current form this bill is an unworkable disgrace which threatens legitimate democratic debate while letting commercial lobbyists off the hook. On Wednesday the government were defeated in the House of Lords by over 40 votes to exclude some staff costs from the slashed spending limit. I asked Andrew Lansley to clarify whether he will accept that amendment.
I continued by raising the publication of papers from the National Archive under the 30-year rule. These papers have suggested that Margaret Thatcher’s government may have played a role in the devastating attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar. I welcomed the cabinet’s secretary’s investigation, but I asked the government to ensure that no documents will be withheld from the inquiry and that the foreign secretary will give a prompt and full statement to the House and make the conclusions of the report public.
Next I sought clarification from Andrew Lansley regarding the government’s policy on so-called gay-to-straight conversion therapy. On Tuesday Dan Poulter, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for health, appeared to rule out any statutory regulation of psychotherapists to prevent them from providing gay-to-straight conversion therapy, arguing that a ban could have ‘unintended consequences’. Being gay is not an illness and it should never be treated as something that can be cured. Aversion therapy is an abhorrent practice and the government should be taking action to stop it.
I continued by reminding the House of Commons that it is now nearly a year since the prime minister gave the speech that was supposed to end all Tory divisions on Europe. It’s fair to say it hasn’t been a roaring success. Within weeks Tory backbenchers had amended his own Queen’s speech and they haven’t stopped banging on about Europe ever since. This week we’ve had a letter from 95 Tory MPs demanding a veto on all EU legislation. I asked Andrew Lansley if he agreed with his cabinet colleague Ken Clarke this latest Tory euro sceptic initiative is ‘Rightwing National Escapism’? Or whether he agreed with Labour that we should be building bridges with Europe in order to deliver real reform in Britain’s national interest rather than petulantly threatening to leave!
Finally, I raised the press reports this week that government ministers have spent thousands of pounds on acting lessons from RADA. I suggested that the whole country would agree with me that whatever their method it’s time for this government to exit stage right.
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Angela Eagle is MP for Wallasey, shadow leader of the House of Commons and writes the weekly Business of Parliament column for Progress. She tweets @AngelaEagle