'Govt has your best interests at heart'

The Commons is at its best in lengthy and detailed discussions very often on the minutiae of great matters of state.

Last Monday it was the Strikes (Minimum Service Bill) designed to maintain minimum emergency service in a strike. Labour caricatured this perfectly sensible bill as some kind of an attack on the trade unions movement, and it was noticeable that virtually every speaker in the debate had to call attention to their sponsorship by a union. Most were proud of it. It was a rather wonderful replay of the good old hard left union-driven days. I rather expected someone, preferably with a broad Glasgow accent, and wearing a flat cap and a muffler to leap to his feat to declare “One out all out. You have nothing to lose but your chains.”

By Tuesday, the Scottish Nationalists were feigning outrage because the Secretary of State for Scotland had used Section 35 to ensure that women and girls in Scotland and England had the same protections under the Sex Equality Act. Fair enough you’d have thought? But the Scot Nats’ law that children of 16 need no medical proof to declare their gender to be something other than that on their birth certificate does diminish safeguards. These are sensitive matters for mature debate; not the rabble-rousing Scot Nat declamation of an all-out attack by the hated English on their beloved Holyrood Parliament. They should not have allowed such an important matter to descend into party political bickering.

Later we had the the Online Safety Bill. The main excitement was a group of Tory rebels demanding senior executives of social media companies who fail to take down content causing harm to children should be imprisoned. That threat will sharpen their thinking. Good thing too. The same might apply to other content such as wicked sites explaining in detail how vulnerable teenagers might try to kill themselves. The other side of the argument was that this was an attack on free speech which would have consequences for things including the promotion of religion. The rebels signed up enough of their fellows, the Government saw reason and agreed.

On Wednesday we had the Retained EU Law Bill which removes all EU laws transferred onto our Statute Book at Brexit which we deem to be worthless, or damaging to our interests. Good thing too; but inevitably almost every interest group suddenly discovered obscure EU regulations which they argued safeguarded their particular area so should not be repealed. Have no fear; the Government have your best interests at heart and will ensure that this tidying up process has none of the unforeseen consequences you are watching out for. These matters arouse passions, are capable of lengthy and noisy debate. They are at the heart of what Parliament is about - MPs from all sides using their wisdom and experience to try to persuade others that what they are proposing will be for the betterment of all. Parliament- the place where people speak; and where good law and good administration is the end result of it.

James Gray

MP for North Wiltshire

Simplistic platitudes

Heidi Alexander suggests that "Conservative politicians have to put their money where their mouth is" and invest in Swindon's bus network. Such simplistic platitudes are grist to the mill for ambitious politicians seeking to curry favour and votes. However, politicians whether Conservative or Labour don't have money other than that which they take from taxpayers. And I'm not sure Ms Alexander would find a majority of people wanting to spend money on bus provision.

Des Morgan

Caraway Drive

Swindon

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