Extract from Commons
"Points of Order"
(West
Dunbartonshire) (SNP): On a point of order, Mr Speaker.
On 4 November, my constituent Jagtar Singh Johal was arrested in
the Punjab. Do you think it would be appropriate if a Foreign and
Commonwealth Office Minister were to come to the Dispatch Box to
make a statement on the fact that Jagtar has yet to receive
consular support, even though he has so far appeared in court two
times? Accusations of torture are now being made public, so there
is an urgent requirement for the Foreign Secretary to make a
statement on behalf of a British citizen who comes from Dumbarton
in my constituency. This is a matter of urgency for our
relationship with the Republic of India.
Mr Speaker: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman
for his point of order. That might be appropriate, although I
would insert into my reply the caveat that sadly—but, as Members
will appreciate, all too frequently—British citizens in various
parts of the world are subject to deprivation of human rights
and, in some cases, the most bestial torture. It is not
necessarily feasible to expect that on every such occasion a
Minister will come to the House to make an oral statement.
However, it could happen and it might. If it does not, it is open
to the hon. Gentleman to seek other means by which to ensure that
he can register his concerns and elicit a ministerial response to
them.
Extract from Committee
stage of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill
Mr (Chingford and Woodford
Green) (Con): I seem to recall it was not so long ago
that the right hon. Gentleman was in a coalition Government in
which my right hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Sir Oliver
Letwin) insisted that we withdrew two regulations for every new
one that we introduced. Does not that make the right hon.
Gentleman a regulation cutter, like the rest of us?
(Carshalton and Wallington)
(LD): I remember that clearly. The right hon. Gentleman
and I—and, I am sure, Labour Members—can confirm that there are
regulations, such as those relating to the British Government’s
role in running the railways in India, that it would be
appropriate to get rid of, because frankly they are no longer
relevant. I suspect that there are quite a lot of other examples.
Extract from
Westminster Hall debate on Loneliness and Local
Communities
(Birmingham, Edgbaston)
(Lab/Co-op):...In what seems like a lifetime ago,
but in reality was only a little over two months, I gave my
maiden speech. I spoke about how my parents arrived in this
country from the Punjab in India and how they understood what
it felt like to feel new, alone and lost. I also spoke about the
issues surrounding mental health and emotional wellbeing that can
lead to loneliness and how they can be cruel and
indiscriminate...
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