The comments made by Andrew Bridgen, the Independent MP for North West Leicestershire, on Twitter on 5 May 2023.
A dire night for the Conservative Party in the local elections. Ignore the will of people at your peril.
When the people are scared of the politicians that’s tyranny, when the politicians are scared of the people that’s democracy.
A lot of politicians will rightly be getting scared now.
The email sent by Andrew Bridgen, the then Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire, on 20 September 2023.
Dear Ms Stone
Strictly Private and Confidential
Further to the letter I have sent to you concerning your investigation into representation made on behalf of the Curious Guys and Mere Plantations, I am writing to you about a number of comments which have been made to me about your ongoing role as Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.
I have learnt only too well during my time in Westminster that this place has always been one of gossip in corridors and tearooms. I was distressed to hear on a number of occasions an unsubstantiated rumour that your contract as Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is due to end in the coming months and that there are advanced plans to offer you a peerage, potentially as soon as the Prime Minister’s resignation honours list. There is also some suggestion amongst colleagues that those plans are dependent upon arriving at the ‘right’ outcomes when conducting parliamentary standards investigations.
Clearly my own travails with Number 10 and the former PM have been well documented and obviously a small part of me is naturally concerned to hear such rumours.
More importantly however you are rightfully renowned for your integrity and decency and no doubtsuch rumours are only designed to harm your reputation.
I do apologise if you find the contents of this letter offensive, it is certainly not my intention, but I would be grateful if you would provide me reassurance that you are not about to be offered an honour or peerage and that the rumours are indeed malicious and baseless.
Yours sincerely
Andrew Bridgen
Member of Parliament for North West Leicestershire
REPLY:
Dear Mr Bridgen
I am writing in response to your email to me of 20 September 2022.
The investigation into allegations that you had breached the Code of Conduct in relation to paid advocacy and declaration of interests was referred to the Committee on Standards on 8 September 2022.
It is not appropriate for you to contact me in relation to your case when that case is in the possession of the Committee. The Committee would expect that all correspondence between myself, as Commissioner, and a Member relating to a case should be disclosed to it.
I shall therefore be sending a copy of your email of 20 September, and this response, to the Committee on Standards.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an independent officer of the House, appointed for a fixed term of five years under Standing Order No. 150. The role is not susceptible to external influence or political pressure.
Yours Sincerely
Kathryn
Kathryn Stone OBE
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
The statement made by Andrew Bridgen, the MP for North West Leicestershire, on Facebook on 26 April 2023.
My expulsion from the Conservative Party under false pretences only confirms the toxic culture which plagues our political system.
Above all else this is an issue of freedom of speech. No elected Member of Parliament should ever be penalised for speaking on behalf of those who have no voice.
The Party has been sure to make an example of me.
The speech made by Andrew Bridgen, the Independent MP for North West Leicestershire, in the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.
I remind the Chamber of my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. For 22 years before coming to this place, I was the managing director and chairman of a food processing company. I am also a qualified transport manager, and I remain the equal largest shareholder in that company.
First, I want to highlight an aspect of the Budget that is of particular interest to my constituency of North West Leicestershire, which is fuel duty. The level of fuel duty is of immense importance to my constituents, given two facts: the first is that public transport is extremely limited—in fact, my constituency does not have access to any main line railway station, or any railway station at all. The second is that, since North West Leicestershire is the centre of the population of the UK, with good communication links with the M42 and the M1, a third of all jobs in North West Leicestershire are in distribution or are logistics-related. As such, the freeze on fuel duty that was first put in place in 2011 has been extremely significant to the huge economic growth we have seen in North West Leicestershire.
To think tanks such as the Social Market Foundation that complain that the Treasury has forgone money to benefit the rich, I say, “Why do you think we should penalise my constituents who have to use a car to get to work?” The fuel duty freeze is the right thing to do to maintain economic growth, and my constituents will certainly support it—and not just my constituents. We already have 1.2 jobs for everyone of working age in North West Leicestershire, so a lot of people have to travel in from surrounding constituencies to work in my constituency. I am sure those people will be very grateful for the tax freeze as well.
With regard to the lack of a railway station, I cannot help but give a push for the reopening of the Ivanhoe line, which Network Rail said would be the most beneficial reopening of a railway line that it currently has on the books. That line would link the great town of Burton upon Trent with Leicester, and would pass through North West Leicestershire and South Derbyshire, benefiting all of our constituents. It has cross-party support, including from the Members from Leicester.
Turning to energy and science, I would like to mention an energy source that I have been promoting for some time, which is small modular nuclear reactors. Only in November last year, I said to the Secretary of State that renewables cannot be relied on to provide all our energy needs, due to their intermittent nature. It is clear that we need to add more reliable baseload capacity, and nuclear is the favourite for that. Hundreds of my constituents work at Rolls-Royce, and many of them work on the development of small modular reactors. Therefore, I very much welcome the announcement in the Budget of a competition through Great British Nuclear to build small modular reactors in the UK, and the inclusion of nuclear energy in the green zero carbon taxonomy. I am sure that my skilled worker constituents at Rolls-Royce in Derby will step up to the mark, and that we will see reliable baseload energy produced from that source sooner, rather than later.
Next, I turn to investment zones, and I note that the Treasury has identified the proposed east midlands mayoral combined county authority to deliver that policy. I feel that I have to point out that the ongoing issue we have in Leicestershire, and indeed in Leicester, is the veto being exercised by the current Mayor of Leicester, which is preventing Leicester and Leicestershire from joining that authority and creating that critical mass in the east midlands. That has particular relevance to the topic of the debate, as Leicester is home to the National Space Centre and has many space and science-related companies around it. Indeed, my own constituency of North West Leicestershire is home to a space company in the form of Zeeko, which makes ultra-precision polishing solutions for the optics for satellite cameras. Quite honestly, it would be an outrage if our county and the city of Leicester were to miss out on an opportunity to be involved in this situation because of the intransigence of the city Mayor. I wish all those in the city seeking to abolish the mayoralty very well in the May elections.
Energy security and scientific innovation are key to the future of the UK’s economy and stimulating economic growth. There are many measures in this Budget that will help us to maintain and improve our place in the world when it comes to science, and this Government have demonstrated their commitment to that goal. In the area of energy and security, this Government are being realistic, and it is clear that nuclear has a significant part to play in achieving that goal in the future. Picking up on some points that have been made by the Opposition, I would add that the relationship between business and our excellent research establishments—our universities—has certainly improved, but more progress needs to be made. If we could harness all the innovations in research that we have at our great universities, we would be really accelerating our economic growth. We must work towards that endlessly.
The parliamentary question asked by Andrew Bridgen, the Independent MP for North West Leicestershire, in the House of Commons on 6 March 2023.
Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Ind)
8. What steps his Department is taking to reduce benefit fraud. (903875)
The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work (Tom Pursglove)
We take all fraud very seriously and have a range of measures in place, supported by two tranches of additional investment totalling around £900 million, which will prevent a further £2.4 billion of loss by 2024-25. In May last year, we published “Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System”, which details our proposals for reducing fraud and error, including legislative change and closer working across Government.
Andrew Bridgen
I thank the Minister for that answer, but I have had numerous reports from constituents of alleged incidents of benefit fraud and what they perceive as a lack of action when they report them to the Department, so will the Minister inform the House by how many his Department plans to increase staff in the counter-fraud teams?
Tom Pursglove
I am very appreciative of my hon. Friend raising this point. It is fair to say that we are coming after those who commit benefit fraud: it is unfair on the taxpayer, it is wrong, and that message must go out in the strongest terms. That is being backed up by action, as we set out in the plan. For example, over the next five years, we will see 2,000 specialists dedicated to getting across 2 million universal credit cases. That is an important contribution to make sure that we bring this money back into the Department where it rightly belongs.
Several hon. Members rose—
Mr Speaker
Is Alyn Smith standing up?
Alyn Smith (Stirling) (SNP) indicated dissent.
Mr Speaker
No, but you did stand at the beginning. In that case, I call somebody who is always going to stand: Jim Shannon.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is very important that all benefit fraud is taken on board, but many times in my constituency over the past few years, people have inadvertently filled in forms incorrectly and have found themselves having to pay money back. May I ask that compassion be shown to those who have inadvertently done wrong but realised they have to pay back, to ensure that they can pay back at a level they can afford?
Tom Pursglove
The hon. Gentleman is right to raise this point, and it is important to note that we work on a case-by-case basis. Of course, where there are instances of error of that kind, we work on an individual basis to work out a repayment plan that is appropriate for those individuals, taking into account any financial vulnerabilities or challenges they might face.
The speech made by Andrew Bridgen, the Independent MP for North West Leicestershire, on 22 January 2023.
12 year ago, I was elected as a Member of Parliament. And as a Parliamentarian, I have been guided by one principle. Members of Parliament are servants of the people, not their masters.
Ladies and gentlemen, I work for you.
As a young man, I trained in science. And in science, we are taught one thing above all others. To pursue the truth, no matter where it might lead.
And if I want to live by those principles, then I must ask the question no one in power or positions of authority want to answer.
We were told 100% effective.
That was a lie.
We are told no onward transmission.
That was a lie.
We were told “safe”.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have been sent email after email, letter after letter, and message after message. They all say the same thing.
That it was a lie.
Ladies and gentlemen, I made my choice. I will continue to ask the questions asked of me. From people who have been hurt. From people who have lost loved ones. From people threatened with their livelihoods if they did consent to a treatment that hadn’t even existed a year before.
And if we wish to live by the light of science, then we must ask these questions courageously, and put them to people who think themselves your masters.
They are not. We are not.
We work for you.
Orwell once said, that in an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. In that case, you are the revolutionaries. The people sending me those messages, day after day. They are the revolutionaries because they are telling the truth.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am fed up with the threats.
I am fed up with the smears.
I am fed up with the lies.
The truth will prevail.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-04-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will (a) commission research to estimate the number of people from other EU member states who receive housing benefit and (b) publish that information before 23 June 2016.
Mr Shailesh Vara
There are no current plans to conduct the analyses listed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-06-13.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what guidance the Electoral Commission has given to its staff on political impartiality.
Mr Gary Streeter
A copy of the Electoral Commission’s code of conduct for staff has been placed in the House Library.
This document, which is available on the Commission’s intranet and circulated at regular intervals through internal bulletins to remind staff of its content, sets out clearly the conduct expected of staff in their capacity as a Commission employee, including that, “Throughout your employment/engagement … with the Commission you are required to conduct yourself so as not to raise any questions as to the political impartiality of the Commission”.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-04-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will (a) commission research to estimate the number of people from other EU member-states who receive universal credit and (b) publish that information before 23 June 2016.
Mr Shailesh Vara
There are no current plans to conduct the analyses listed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects HS2 Ltd to implement discretionary arrangements to assist property owners affected by the High Speed 2 route.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The long-term discretionary assistance schemes are available for the London to West Midlands (Phase One) and the West Midlands to Crewe (Phase 2a) sections of HS2. The interim Exceptional Hardship Scheme (EHS) is available for the remainder of the route (Phase 2b). A consultation on the long-term discretionary compensation and assistance schemes to replace the EHS for Phase 2b will be launched at the time of the route announcement in autumn this year.