Alluding to previous breaches of parliamentary rules, Lindsay noted that, when in opposition, Labour would complain about the previous Conservative government behaving in a similar manner…reports Asian Lite News
Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has reprimanded Chancellor Rachel Reeves for giving interviews to reporters in the US about her upcoming Budget. Parliamentary rules say major government announcements should be made to MPs in the Commons, ahead of journalists.
An exasperated Lindsay said failing to do so was a “supreme discourtesy to the House” and he was “very, very disappointed” with Reeves. Responding to the criticism, the prime minister’s spokesman said it was “entirely routine for government to make announcements in the run-up to Budgets and spending reviews”. He added that Parliament would have “all the requisite time to scrutinise measures clearly”.
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Last Friday, she outlined her plan to “change the way that we we measure debt” during a meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington. She explained she planned a technical change to loosen self-imposed limits on borrowing, to free up billions of pounds extra for infrastructure spending on projects such as roads, railways and hospitals.
The government has promised to get debt falling as share of the economy during the course of this parliament, rather than over a rolling five-year period. Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Sir Lindsay said the policy changes “could hardly be described as a leak” when she had given on-the-record interviews.
He said: “Ministers should expect to face proper, sustained scrutiny when these announcements are made to the elected members of this House and not the American news channels.”
This was because Reeves’ comments were major new policy announcements with “significant and wide-ranging implications for the government’s fiscal policy and for the public finances”, he added. The Speaker said this was “totally unacceptable” and asked why Reeves expected MPs to wait “almost a week” simply to hear her repeat her announcements in her Budget statement.
MPs might be wondering, he added, “how they will get a seat on Wednesday. Well, to be honest the way it’s going you won’t need to – we’ll have all heard it.” With Treasury minister Darren Jones making a statement to the House on “fiscal rules” later on Monday, the Speaker remarked: “Perhaps no coincidence.”
Alluding to previous breaches of parliamentary rules, Lindsay noted that, when in opposition, Labour would complain about the previous Conservative government behaving in a similar manner, and demanded: “Get your acts together, all sides, treat Members with respect.”
Reeves urged not to cut Sellafield funds
Rachel Reeves has been urged not to carry out mooted funding cuts for nuclear sites including Sellafield amid safety concerns, as it emerged that the number of incidents where workers narrowly avoided harm had increased at the Cumbrian site.
The GMB union has written to Reeves, the chancellor, before Wednesday’s budget to raise safety concerns after rumours emerged that the budget for the taxpayer-owned Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) could be reduced, which could result in cuts at nuclear sites including Sellafield and Dounreay in Scotland.
In the letter to Reeves, seen by the Guardian, union leaders warned that a safety incident at Sellafield, Europe’s most hazardous industrial site, would “have devastating consequences far beyond the immediate community”. The NDA had a budget of £4bn in the last financial year.
The warning came as recently released annual accounts for the NDA showed “near misses” at Sellafield had risen in the last financial year, and an “international nuclear event-scale” incident had occurred at the site, which is a vast dump for nuclear waste and also the world’s largest store of plutonium.
The NDA said there was an “inadequate response” during an incident in 2023 as some staff did not follow procedures when an emergency alarm unexpectedly sounded inside the site’s hazardous chemical separation area.
The report also said Sellafield, which employs 12,000 people, had received six enforcement letters from its regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, and that in studying its safety record the “rate of significant near misses is higher across 2023-24”.
It found that the impact on employees from work injuries had “often been significant” even if many of the incidents had appeared innocuous.
In the letter, Denise Walker and Roger Denwood, of the GMB, wrote: “While operators and regulators work tirelessly to ensure safety, the inherent risks of the site mean that any lapse in safety standards could result in serious and far-reaching economic and ecological consequences.”
They said radioactive “materials must be safely managed to prevent leaks or accidental releases of radiation. The health risks of radiation exposure, including cancer and other serious illnesses, are well documented.”
They added: “Any reduction in funding would inevitably result in fewer resources for maintenance, monitoring, and emergency preparedness-heightening the risk of a serious incident.”
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