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Tag: Peter Bottomley

  • Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Attorney General, what the cost is to the Crown Prosecution Service of obtaining a transcript of the Southwark Crown Court trial of charges against Gurpal Virdi.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has requested an estimate of the cost of obtaining a transcript and has been informed that it will take 10 days for this to be supplied. Once the estimate is received the CPS will write to the Honorable Member to inform him of the figure.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the Metropolitan Police is of obtaining a transcript of the Southwark Crown Court trial of charges against Gumpal Viladi.

    Mike Penning

    The cost of obtaining any court transcript depends on the length of the proceedings.

    The exact cost of the transcript in this case is unknown as no transcript has been requested to date by the Metropolitan Police Service.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Metropolitan Police have provided her with a copy of the memorandum of a conviction/order entered in the Register of Lambeth East Juvenile Court that records the proving on 1 April 1987 of offences or complaints by PC Markwick by a defendant aged over 16 on 7 November 1986.

    Mike Penning

    The Metropolitan Police Service has not provided this document to the Home Office.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the employment of Mr Aditya Agrawal at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, (a) what mediation has been offered by the Trust, (b) when (i) Mr Watson, (ii) Mr Chang and (iii) Mr Harris will cease to be full-time NHS consultants, (c) whether one of those three consultants was the originator or conveyor of the false, fabricated or misattributed clinical accusation to the GMC on clinical care provided by Mr Agrawal, (d) whether the Trust has withdrawn in writing any wrong accusation concerning clinical care provided by Mr Agrawal and (e) who was responsible for arranging the revalidation of Mr Agrawal with the GMC (i) up to and (ii) after October 2015; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Jeremy Hunt

    This is an employer and employee matter between the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and Mr Aditya Agrawal respectively. The Department cannot comment on individual employment matters that are the responsibility of independent organisations, and that are subject to ongoing legal proceedings or on matters relating to individual clinical cases or other personal information. We understand that the cost to East Lancashire Trust of legal proceedings concerning Mr Agrawal is £296,848.42 to date, and that the Trust does not have insurance costs for legal awards in the event of the Trust or one of its employees being subject to legal action for defamation.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether East Lancashire Hospitals Trust has insurance cover for legal costs and awards in the event of the Trust or one of its employees being subject to legal action for defaming someone by a statement that is untrue, damaging and not privileged.

    Mr Jeremy Hunt

    This is an employer and employee matter between the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and Mr Aditya Agrawal respectively. The Department cannot comment on individual employment matters that are the responsibility of independent organisations, and that are subject to ongoing legal proceedings or on matters relating to individual clinical cases or other personal information. We understand that the cost to East Lancashire Trust of legal proceedings concerning Mr Agrawal is £296,848.42 to date, and that the Trust does not have insurance costs for legal awards in the event of the Trust or one of its employees being subject to legal action for defamation.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2022 Speech on Alcohol Duty

    Peter Bottomley – 2022 Speech on Alcohol Duty

    The speech made by Sir Peter Bottomley, the Father of the House, in the House of Commons on 19 December 2022.

    Like the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead (Abena Oppong-Asare), who speaks for the Opposition, I support what has been announced today. I declare an interest: I drink most things, except super-strength draught cider.

    On wine, using an average rate of 12.5% is right; stepped rates would not have worked, because growers do not know what strength a wine will be—the strength fluctuates naturally. A revenue-neutral level makes sense. I hope that this approach will continue beyond the 18 months.

    I hope that the Minister will consider whether farm-gate concessions can be made for the growing number of vineyards in this country. I hope that between now and the Budget the Chancellor will calculate the price and tax elasticity, because often, when duty rates are frozen, revenue goes up. There have been times when the rate has gone up and the revenue has gone down, which is perverse.

    James Cartlidge

    I am grateful to the Father of the House for his question—I do not think that I will ever get another that mentions both elasticity and high-strength cider; it was an interesting combination of points. He made a very good point about wine. I have enjoyed engaging with all the main alcohol sectors, mainly in November, in the run-up to the making of this decision. As he knows, we are requiring all wine between 11.5% and 14.5% ABV to be treated as though it were 12.5% ABV for the purpose of calculating the duty rate. That will apply for 18 months, so there is a transition. We have to ask ourselves: if that were made permanent, would it not undermine a regime that is ultimately based on taxation by strength? I understand my hon. Friend’s point and will continue to engage with the sector on it.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2022 Speech on the Infected Blood Inquiry

    Peter Bottomley – 2022 Speech on the Infected Blood Inquiry

    The speech made by Sir Peter Bottomley, the Conservative MP for Worthing West, in the House of Commons on 15 December 2022.

    I welcome the Minister coming to make an oral statement. We know that both he and the Leader of the House have been deeply involved in this issue over the months and years.

    The right hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Dame Diana Johnson) is the most powerful advocate trying to hold Government to account and to get them to come forward. I think she will want to write—and I will happily join her—a whole series of detailed questions to the Minister, some of which he may be able to answer now. For others, he may have to say what conditions need to be met for them to be answered.

    One important thing to my mind is allowing those who are not yet registered as possibly entitled to compensation to preregister, so that, when the Government come out with their response to Sir Brain Langstaff’s report, they will be able to take that up fast and make up any missing medical records, which will be a problem for some people who have been infected or affected.

    The all-party parliamentary group welcomed the Government accepting the first point of Sir Robert Francis’s report about the moral case. I thank the Government for that. We are also grateful that Sir Robert is going to be invited to help Sue Gray to take forward the work she is doing. We should not underestimate the amount of work.

    As and when people get compensation, are they going to be protected from the scams and so-called financial advisers who may not protect their income and use of that money? Can the Minister consider whether he can answer whether inheritance tax will not be applied to someone’s payments if the household is within the inheritance tax limit?

    Jeremy Quin

    I should have said this in response to the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Florence Eshalomi) but, in response to the Father of the House, I have greatly appreciated spending time with him and the right hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Dame Diana Johnson), who has been a tireless campaigner on this, as has the entire all-party parliamentary group on haemophilia and contaminated blood. I very much appreciated the time they spent with me.

    I absolutely recognise the point on preregistration, which is one of the issues at the forefront of our minds as we go through this. The Father of the House recognises that there are particular issues, including in relation to medical records that may have been lost over time, dating back decades. There needs to be a clear system so that people know how to take advantage of the scheme.

    On compensation and scams, I share my hon. Friend’s concern. I am not certain how we will be able to address that. It is obviously an issue that afflicts many of our constituents in many circumstances, but I am sure that it will not be impossible to deliver timely advice alongside the scheme.

    In terms of tax, the recommendation is clear that this should be tax free and should be disregarded for benefits. In relation to inheritance tax in particular, there are complexities that need to be examined. Whether we need to have legislation as part of that process is one of the issues that we are working on. If my hon. Friend or other hon. Members have detailed questions, they are more than welcome to write to me and I shall respond.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2022 Speech on Burning Trees for Energy Generation

    Peter Bottomley – 2022 Speech on Burning Trees for Energy Generation

    The speech made by Sir Peter Bottomley, the Conservative MP for Worthing West, in the House of Commons on 6 December 2022.

    I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North Devon (Selaine Saxby) and the hon. Member for Warrington North (Charlotte Nichols). I will not repeat what they have said; in fact, I will not say very much, because a meeting of the Ecclesiastical Committee means that I must ask people to forgive me for not staying for the winding-up speeches.

    First, my key point is that we have had a great transition and need to go on making that transition. I have a list of 34 former power stations in London alone, nearly all of which were powered by coal or oil. We have found other ways of generating our electricity.

    Secondly, from when I started to ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for a meeting about Drax and the absurd way in which it was regarded as acceptable renewable power generation, it took nearly a year before we had an informal meeting, part of which was quoted by the hon. Member for Warrington North.

    I hope the Government will pay attention. The Minister will have to say whatever the Minister has to say. Ministers sometimes come to meetings like this with a short bat, if I can put it that way, and they may not be able to announce future policy. However, the practice must be that we do not bring in the 27 million trees a year that have been cited and that we find ways to generate carbon-free renewable electricity, rather than electricity that requires subsidies that are currently too high and will be even higher in future.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2022 Speech on the Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia

    Peter Bottomley – 2022 Speech on the Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia

    The speech made by Peter Bottomley, the Conservative MP for Worthing West and the Father of the House, in the House of Commons on 28 November 2022.

    It would be good for the House to know whether the Crown Prince—the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia—thinks that he is personally involved or uninvolved in what is going on. It is now four years and seven weeks since Jamal Khashoggi was murdered. I think it is time that our friend—our ally—Saudi Arabia got to know that whenever a senior member of its country comes abroad, unless such executions stop, they will be associated with them.

    May I also make the point that any suggestion that a confession was gained by torture makes it invalid? We know from our past that seven times a year, people convicted of a capital offence were innocent or should not have been convicted. I suspect that the same applies in Saudi Arabia.

    David Rutley

    The Father of the House makes important points. As he is aware, the UK has always been clear that Khashoggi’s murder was a terrible crime. We called for a thorough, credible and transparent investigation to hold those responsible to account and imposed sanctions against 20 Saudis involved. I cannot speculate about future designations or sanctions as that would reduce their impact, but he can be assured that we will speak up clearly and call out any confessions secured under torture, which are abhorrent and against all that we stand for.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2022 Speech on Jeremy Hunt’s Financial Statement

    Peter Bottomley – 2022 Speech on Jeremy Hunt’s Financial Statement

    The speech made by Peter Bottomley, the Conservative MP for Worthing West and the Father of the House, in the House of Commons on 17 November 2022.

    Sir Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con)

    The Chancellor will have noticed that Labour Members laughed when he talked about stability, growth and public services. Those who are watching our proceedings will have noticed, as will he, that when he was making his announcements about how we will ease the burden on the poorest and give opportunities to those who most need them, those Members were silenced. People around the country will give backing to his approach. We may have arguments about details, but the key point is to get stability and growth, and to defend public services.

    Jeremy Hunt

    I thank my hon. Friend the Father of the House. He is right. What I have discovered in the short time that I have been doing this job is that although one might arrive thinking that decisions about money are about numbers and spreadsheets, they are actually about values. Today, I have tried to express our values not just as a Conservative party but as a country. That means protecting the most vulnerable.